The Nature of Aftershocks

An earthquake occurs when pressure is released along a fault; this pressure builds up due to friction between two plates, whether related to...

Ocean Currents & Regional Climates

The surface currents of our oceans, which extend to depths of 1500 feet, are determined by wind patterns and the effect of Earth's rotat...

A Raw East Wind

My walk to work this morning was into a chilly east wind. In this part of the country, an east wind is generally damp and uncomfortable, es...

Journey to Swan Lake

Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge spreads across the Glaciated Plain of north-central Missouri, just east of the Grand River Valley.Its mos...

Rewards of Ugly Weather

This morning dawned cold and gray in central Missouri and the threat of chilly rain or wet snow was beginning to douse our spring fever. Nev...

The Early Swallow

Among the earliest of our summer birds to return to their breeding grounds, tree swallows usually appear in the American Midwest by mid Marc...

Vulture Traffic

The turkey vultures of Columbia, Missouri, have established a large colonial roost near the south edge of the MU campus. From our back deck...

The Battleground of Spring

By the middle of March, a higher sun and an unsettled jet stream have loosened winter's grip on the Heartland. Directing Pacific storms...

Surveillance Season

March is the month when Midwestern naturalists, including myself, begin our daily surveys of the changing flora and fauna on our property. ...

Cerebral Override

One would think that we humans, endowed with a large, complex brain, would be more aware of our environment than "lower" forms of ...

Coot Invasion

On this first astronomical morning of spring, I decided to visit Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, southwest of Columbia, my favorite location...

Natural Forces & Human Disasters

As we have observed in Japan over the past week, natural forces can devastate human populations. Indeed, 74,000 years ago, the eruption of ...

Florissant Fossil Beds

In the western foothills of the Pike's Peak massif, petrified stumps and logs of giant sequoias lie amidst groves of ponderosa pine and ...

Disasters & Miracles

In the course of major disasters, whether natural or man-made, there are always instances of improbable survival. The news media, playing o...

Japan's Quake & Tsunami

Northern Japan lies on a southward projection of the North American Plate and, off its east coast, the Pacific Plate is subducting beneath i...

Chiseling the African Plate

During the Permian Period, some 250 million years ago (MYA), future Africa was encased within the combined land mass of Pangea. Then, about...

The Great Range

After splitting from tropical Antarctica, the sub-Continent of India drifted to the northeast and, some 70 million years ago, began to colli...

The Chill of March

Here in the American Midwest, late winter and early spring rarely bring the coldest temperatures of the year but often harbor some of the mo...

Premature Pelicans

Arriving at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area early last evening, my wife and I spotted a flock of white birds rising in the distance. Their s...

The Scourge of Polypharmacy

During the first few decades of television, tobacco ads were beamed into American homes, encouraging all of us to indulge. Thanks to the ef...

Geophyte Season

The appearance of hyacinths and crocuses, in late winter, is a welcome sight to gardeners and heralds the onset of geophyte season in the Am...

Morning Snows

Yesterday morning, a flock of snow geese flew over our neighborhood, catching a southeast breeze in the cold, clear sky. Nearly invisible i...

Recovery

While birdsong has steadily increased since mid February, snow geese have departed for their summer home and crocuses have brightened the fl...

March & November

March and November are not beloved months in the American Midwest. While November's image is rescued by the Thanksgiving Holiday and Ma...