With receding sea ice allowing energy exploration in the Arctic, the US is set to unveil a five-year leasing plan that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of the drilling. SMEA‘s Tom Leschine is quoted. Read more here. 

In 2001, scores of quakes of magnitude 4.0 or less shook the Spokane area. Now, armed with the right tools, scientists want to find out what was at fault. ESS‘ Douglas Gibbons is guiding installation of strong-motion sensors, as part of a project called NetQuakes, to help improve understanding of what lies beneath Spokane. Read more here! 

Researchers have measured the speed of the ocean’s slowest shark – the Greenland sharks, which “cruise” at 0.34m per second that is less than 1mph and revealed that they hunt sleeping seals. SAFS‘ Vince Gallucci is quoted. Read more here! 

In the southeastern region of Peru, gold mining is colliding with efforts to protect human health and ecosystem function. Jason Scullion, a graduate student in SEFS, and others talk to Nature about Peru’s gold rush and the struggles to optimize economic prosperity with environmental sustainability. Read it here! 

New research from an international team of scientists – including UW professor emeritus Patricia Anderson – confirms that the Arctic has gone through intensely warm periods, warmer than scientists thought was possible, during the last 2.8 million years.  Read more about this study here.