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The value of mineral production in the United States increased by 12 percent in 2011 from that of 2010, suggesting that the nonfuel minerals industries, particularly metals, continued to recover from the economic recession that started in December 2007 and lasted well into 2009.  The value of raw, nonfuel minerals mined in the United States was $74 billion in 2011, up from $66 billion in 2010, according to the U.S. Ecological Survey’s annual release of[.....]

DENVER, Colo. — A pioneering airborne electromagnetic survey in the Yukon Flats near Fort Yukon, Alaska, by the U.S. Ecological Survey has yielded unprecedented images of the presence and absence of permafrost to depths of roughly 328 feet. The airborne survey captured images of permafrost over a substantially larger area, and with greater data density, than has been previously achieved by sparse boreholes and ground-based geophysics. “Liquid water conducts electricity better than ice,” clarified USGS[.....]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Measurable improvements in air feature and visibility, human health, and water feature in many acid-sensitive lakes and streams, have been achieved owing to emissions reductions from electric generating power plants and ensuing decreases in acid rain. These are some of the key findings in a report to Congress by the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, a supportive federal program. The report shows that since the establishment of the Acid Rain Program, under[.....]

HAWAI`I ISLAND, Hawaii — In 2012, the U.S. Ecological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory celebrates its 100th anniversary of studying the volcanoes’ workings and disseminating cutting-edge volcano science throughout the world. Many public events are intended to celebrate the centennial of HVO, the first volcano observatory in the United States. Located on the rim of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit caldera within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, HVO monitors the seismic and volcanic endeavor of six Hawaiian volcanoes including[.....]

Missoula, MT – Climate change in the form of reduced snowfall in mountains is causing powerful and cascading shifts in mountainous plant and bird communities owing to the increased ability of elk to stay at high elevations over winter and consume plants, according to a groundbreaking study in Nature Climate Change. The U.S. Ecological Survey and University of Montana study not only showed that the abundance of deciduous trees and their associated songbirds in mountainous Arizona have[.....]

ANCHORAGE — On its way to deliver emergency fuel to Nome, Alaska, the Russian tanker Renda will go owing to an area used by wintering spectacled eiders, a federally threatened sea duck. But, to protect the ducks and their wintering habitat, resource managers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Benefit and navigators from the U.S. Coast Guard are by satellite telemetry information from the U.S. Ecological Survey to plot a route for the tanker that minimizes impacts to this species and its habitat. “Nearly 20 years ago,[.....]

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Invasive Burmese python hatchlings from the Florida Everglades can withstand exposure to salt water long enough to potentially expand their range owing to ocean and estuarine environments, according to research in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. This recent study, based on lab experiments conducted by researchers from the U.S. Ecological Survey,   provides initial evidence that pythons may be able to survive in marine and estuarine[.....]

ANCHORAGE — An global group of scientists, including one from the U.S. Ecological Survey, has shown that many seabirds start to suffer when the food available for them in the ocean declines below a critical level. This level is about one-third of the maximum amount of food available historically. They have shown that this critical level is about the same for seabirds wherever they take place to be in the world. Their study – the[.....]

Atmospheric deposition of mercury is about four-times higher in lakes near several major U.S. cities compared to lakes in remote areas, according to a new study by the U.S. Ecological Survey.  Atmospheric deposition is the predominant pathway for mercury to reach sensitive ecosystems, where it can accumulate in fish and harm wildlife and humans. Coal-fired power plants and industries are among the fundamental sources of mercury emissions. Mercury emissions can travel far in the atmosphere,[.....]

A recent mission marked the completion of a five-year collaboration between the United States and Canada to survey the Arctic Ocean.