Coast | Common News Update

May172018 by adminNo Comments

Forest health on one coast can affect forests on the other coast

May 16 (UPI) -- Shrinking forests don't just have local or regional consequences. New research suggests the loss of forests on one coast can affect forest health on the opposite coast. In a new study, published this week in the journal Environmental Research Letters, scientists at the University of Washington detailed the linked fates of forests on the East and West coasts of the United States. Die-offs on one coast, whether caused by wildfire, drought or disease -- or some combination thereof -- can have a measurable impact on the health of sections of forest a few thousand miles away. "These smaller areas of forest can have continental-scale impacts, and we really need to be considering this when we're thinking about ecological changes," Abigail Swann, an assistant professor of atmosph...

May162018 by adminNo Comments

East Coast train line to be put into public control

Business

Media playback is unsupported on your device Rail services on the East Coast Main Line are being brought back under government control, following the failure of the current franchise.Operators Stagecoach and Virgin Trains will hand over control from 24 June.The Department for Transport will run the service until a new public-private partnership can be appointed in 2020.Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said it would smooth the transition to a new operator, but critics said it was evidence of private sector failure.Mr Grayling said the franchise had failed because Stagecoach and Virgin Trains had "got their bid wrong", overestimating the profitability of the line.It is the third time in a just over a decade that the government has called a hal...

Feb122018 by adminNo Comments

3D survey details dangerous megathrust fault off Costa Rican coast

Science

Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Scientists have a better understanding of the dynamics of a dangerous megafault off the coast of Costa Rica, thanks to a new survey by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz.The survey yielded detailed 3D images of the Costa Rican subduction zone, where the Cocos plate sinks and slides under the Caribbean plate.Unlike similar megathrust faults, the Costa Rican fault features unusual earthquakes, patchy in their distribution. The ruptures rarely spread to shallow depths. Scientists believe the fault's odd behavior is explained by its varied textures -- corrugated patterns created by subduction activity."Our new imagery shows large variability in the conditions along the megathrust, which may be linked to a number of earthquake phenomena we observe in the re...

Jan82018 by adminNo Comments

Oil tanker burning off China's coast at risk of exploding

World

An oil tanker that caught fire after colliding with a freighter off China's east coast is at risk of exploding and sinking, Chinese state media reported Monday, as authorities from three countries struggled to find its 32 missing crew members and contain oil spewing from the blazing wreck. State broadcaster China Central Television, citing Chinese officials, said none of the 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis who have been missing since the collision late Saturday had been found as of 8 a.m. Monday. Search and cleanup efforts have been hampered by fierce fires and poisonous gases that have engulfed the tanker and surrounding waters, CCTV reported. The Panama-registered tanker Sanchi was sailing from Iran to South Korea when it collided with the Hong Kong-registered freighter CF Crystal in t...

Nov232017 by adminNo Comments

Huntington Ingalls launches 8th National Security Cutter for Coast Guard

Business

Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries launched its eighth National Security Cutter vessel, Midgett, for the U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday.Midgett, a Legend-class cutter, launched off a dock in Pascagoula, Miss., Wednesday morning and will be christened during a ceremony Dec. 9."As the National Security Cutter program continues to mature, we are providing our Coast Guard customer the best ships in their fleet," Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said. "Our shipbuilders know and understand the importance of quality in building these highly capable cutters so the men and women of the Coast Guard can perform their important national security missions."Legend-class cutters are being designed and procured to replace the service's legacy Hamilton-class cutters, which have been ...