Alaskan Temperature Fluctuations and Trends: An Analysis of Recorded Data

Relates recorded temperature data for Alaska to documented trends of annual world mean temperature, which show a warming trend from 1880 to 1940 followed by cooling (graphed). The records of the 20 Alaskan stations are described in detail and their reliability assessed. The state is divided into five regions, and the trends analyzed exhaustively by region, a composite mean being constructed for the state. Distinction is made between trend and fluctuation, utilizing 4 and 8 yr running means and 3 and 5 yr weighted means (8 yr means graphed). Fluctuation extremes at 7 yr intervals until 1948 are identified, with minor fluctuations subsequently. All regions show a pronounced warm maximum around 1940 with the interior region showing an unusually great warming 1910-1935 (approx 3 F). The 8 yr running means for the Alaska composite 1870-1960 (graphed) shows a close relationship to the world temperature trends for the same period, the warm peak occurring in 1941. The limited precipitation and freeze-thaw data available do not appear to correlate directly with temperature trends

Glacial Geology of the Toolik Lake and Upper Kuparuk River Regions

Glaciers of middle and late Pleistocene age flowed into the upper Kuparuk map area from the west, east, and south. Glacial deposits are assigned to the Sagavanirktok River (middle Pleistocene) and Itkillik I and II (late Pleistocene) glaciations of the central Brooks Range glacial succession. During the initial (maximum) advance of Sagavanirktok River age, large valley glaciers flowed north along the Itkillik, Sagavanirktok, and Kuparuk River drainages. Moraines are massive but subdued, with heavy loess cover and broad flanks smoothed by solifluction. A subsequent less extensive advance of Sagavanirktok River age overflowed into the upper Kuparuk drainage from the west and south, forming moraines and outwash remnants that are intermediate in appearance between those of the maximum advance and the subsequent Itkillik moraine succession. Itkillik I glaciers abutted divides west, east, and south of the upper Kuparuk drainage, but overflowed those divides only locally. Their moraines are modified by weathering and erosion, but on a much smaller scale than deposits of the Sagavaniktok River glaciations. Crests are slightly flattened, with loess and vegetation cover locally absent; kettle lakes are common. The subsequent Itkillik II advance, which dates between about 25 and 11.5 ka (thousand 14C years B.P.), is marked by little-modified moraines with stony crests and steep flanks. Glacial flow patterns were generally similar to those of present-day river drainage. Two major advances of Itkillik II age took place between about 25 and 17 ka, forming extensive ice-stagnation features around Toolik Lake. A subsequent readvance is dated between about 12.8 and 11.4 ka at its type locality near the east end of Atigun Gorge. Surficial deposits of Holocene age, although less extensive than those of Pleistocene glaciation, are locally significant. They include alluvial terraces along the Sagavanirktok River, fan deposits at the mouth of the Atigun River, raised beaches and fan-delta deposits around Galbraith Lake, and local landslides and debris flows

In the Wake of the Spill: Environmental Views Along the Gulf Coast

Abstract Objectives We analyze patterns in environmental views of Gulf Coast residents, in the wake of the 2010 oil spill. To what extent do spill-related and other environmental views vary with individual characteristics, personal experience with the spill, or characteristics of place? Methods About 2,000 residents of selected coastal regions in Louisiana and Florida were interviewed by telephone in late summer 2010. Results One-quarter of the respondents said that their environmental views had changed as a result of the spill. Despite reporting more change, more spill effects, and greater threats from climate-induced sea-level rise, Louisiana respondents were less likely to support a deepwater moratorium, alternative energy, or resource conservation. Conclusions Results are consistent with real effects from the spill. Differences between Louisiana and Florida respondents are not explained by spill effects or individual characteristics, however. The patterns reflect biophysical differences of the coastlines that shaped their socioeconomic development

Three American Frontiers: Writings of Thomas D. Clark

The casual and the serious of American history—fiddlers, yarn spinners, and riverboat gamblers, politicians, educators, and social reformers—have all concerned Thomas D. Clark, celebrated historian of the Western frontier and the changing South. Three American Frontiers, a volume of his selected writings, draws from works produced throughout Clark\u27s long career as a writer, teacher, and lecturer on the frontier West, social change in the South, and the cutting-edge of historical research. An avid researcher and a tenacious collector of original materials, Clark looks to the everyday items like the record book of a country store, the file of a small-town newspaper, or the diary of a young Gold Rusher for aids to the analysis of larger trends in history. Holman Hamilton conveys Clark\u27s unique approach to his material and his enthusiasm for the common man in America\u27s past. Among the many books by Thomas Clark are The Rampaging Frontier, The Emerging South, and Pills, Petticoats and Plows. Holman Hamilton was a reporter and columnist with the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette before receiving his Ph.D. in history from the University of Kentucky. He was a Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, and professor of history at the University of Kentucky as well as President of the Kentucky Civil War Round Table and University Fellow. He was the author or editor of many books, including Three Kentucky Presidents and Prologue to Conflict.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/1054/thumbnail.jp

Lee Porter (1947-1989)

Lee Porter died unexpectedly in Seattle, Washington, on 18 January 1989. ... [After initially training in journalism] Lee became a specialist in the Pleistocene biostratigraphy of arctic regions, particularly Alaska and the U.S.S.R. ... Lee's subsequent career took her to the British Museum of Natural History on a research fellowship, then to teaching and administration at Northern Arizona University. She also worked as a consultant for several engineering firms, applying her knowledge of Quaternary deposits to environmental problems, such as geologic hazards, site stability, and waste disposal. At the time of her death, she was working as an engineering geologist for the California State Department of Transportation. ..

Holocene Glaciation of the Arrigetch Peaks, Brooks Range, Alaska

Eleven cirque glaciers and associated deposits within the granitic Arrigetch Peaks of the west-central Brooks Range face north, minimizing insolation. Shading by surrounding mountainous terrain decreases insolation on these landforms even more significantly, favoring the formation of glacier-cored moraines. Comparison of glacier photographs taken in 1911, 1962, and 1979 reveals a record of decelerating recession. Geomorphic and lichenometric mapping suggests at least three to possibly eight phases of Holocene glacial expansion. These date between ~5000 and 300 yr B.P., based on the application of a central Brooks Range Rhizocarpon geographicum growth curve

Detection limits of organic compounds achievable with intense, short-pulse lasers

Many organic molecules have strong absorption bands which can be accessed by ultraviolet short pulse lasers to produce efficient ionization. This resonant multiphoton ionization scheme has already been exploited as an ionization source in time-of-flight mass spectrometers used for environmental trace analysis. In the present work we quantify the ultimate potential of this technique by measuring absolute ion yields produced from the interaction of 267 nm femtosecond laser pulses with the organic molecules indole and toluene, and gases Xe, N2 and O2. Using multiphoton ionization cross sections extracted from these results, we show that the laser pulse parameters required for real-time detection of aromatic molecules at concentrations of one part per trillion in air and a limit of detection of a few attomoles are achievable with presently available commercial laser systems. The potential applications for the analysis of human breath, blood and tissue samples are discussed

Status of ERA Vehicle System Integration Technology Demonstrators

The Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project within the Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) of the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) has the responsibility to explore and document the feasibility, benefits, and technical risk of air vehicle concepts and enabling technologies that will reduce the impact of aviation on the environment. The primary goal of the ERA Project is to select air vehicle concepts and technologies that can simultaneously reduce fuel burn, noise, and emissions. In addition, the ERA Project will identify and mitigate technical risk and transfer knowledge to the aeronautics community at large so that new technologies and vehicle concepts can be incorporated into the future design of aircraft

Associations between multimorbidity and neuropathology in dementia: Consideration of functional cognitive disorders, psychiatric illness and dementia mimics

\ua9 The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists.Background Multimorbidity, the presence of two or more health conditions, has been identified as a possible risk factor for clinical dementia. It is unclear whether this is due to worsening brain health and underlying neuropathology, or other factors. In some cases, conditions may reflect the same disease process as dementia (e.g. Parkinson\u27s disease, vascular disease), in others, conditions may reflect a prodromal stage of dementia (e.g. depression, anxiety and psychosis). Aims To assess whether multimorbidity in later life was associated with more severe dementia-related neuropathology at autopsy. Method We examined ante-mortem and autopsy data from 767 brain tissue donors from the UK, identifying physical multimorbidity in later life and specific brain-related conditions. We assessed associations between these purported risk factors and dementia-related neuropathological changes at autopsy (Alzheimer\u27s-disease related neuropathology, Lewy body pathology, cerebrovascular disease and limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy) with logistic models. Results Physical multimorbidity was not associated with greater dementia-related neuropathological changes. In the presence of physical multimorbidity, clinical dementia was less likely to be associated with Alzheimer\u27s disease pathology. Conversely, conditions which may be clinical or prodromal manifestations of dementia-related neuropathology (Parkinson\u27s disease, cerebrovascular disease, depression and other psychiatric conditions) were associated with dementia and neuropathological changes. Conclusions Physical multimorbidity alone is not associated with greater dementia-related neuropathological change; inappropriate inclusion of brain-related conditions in multimorbidity measures and misdiagnosis of neurodegenerative dementia may better explain increased rates of clinical dementia in multimorbidit