The USGS is a science organization that provides impartial information on the health of our ecosystems and environment, the natural hazards that threaten us, the natural resources we rely on, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the core science systems that help us provide timely, relevant, and useable information.
The USGS serves the nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.
Lava dari gunung berapi punya suhu yang sangat panas. Tapi menjadikannya tempat pembuangan sampah tak hanya berbahaya tapi juga tak menghargai masyarakat adat yang menganggapnya sebagai situs sakral.
Lava flows from a fissure in the aftermath of eruptions from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, May 22, 2018.
Andrew Richard Hara/Ena Media Hawaii via Getty Images
Volcanoes might seem like nature’s incinerators, but using them to burn up trash would be dangerous and disrespectful to indigenous people who view them as sacred.
The Creek Fire burns near Shaver Lake, Calif., in the Sierra Nevada in September 2020.
AP Photo/Noah Berger
Fire is part of the ecology in much of California, but recent wildfires have caused much more damage than past burns of similar size. A fire ecologist points to two key factors: winds and population growth.
The biggest state has a brand new map.
Geologic Map of Alaska
On printed maps, piling on the detail risks obscuring the meaning. This new digital map is really more of a database from which users can create different versions that match their own interests.
Could municipal biosolids be a trove of tiny treasure?
Heather Lowers, USGS Denver Microbeam Laboratory
Mining waste rock from historic mines or even treated sewage to find useful metals and minerals could be a sustainable way to meet demand for these finite resources.