Coal plants are a step in the wrong direction?
Guest Blog by Luke Wilson, Jasmine Woods, and Jaqueline Stogner
The recent drought and influx of people in SC has caused the state-owned utility company, Santee Cooper,
to propose the construction of two 660-megawatt coal-fired power plants in Florence County in order to keep up with SC’s growing electricity demand. Coal burning plants emit carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas and contributor to global warming, nitrogen oxide, a component in smog, sulfur dioxides, a contributor to acid rain, and mercury, a highly toxic metal when converted to methyl mercury. These proposed plants would annually produce over 8 million tons of CO2 and discharge 300 pounds of mercury into the Great Pee Dee River as a byproduct of burning coal. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has already issued a high mercury level advisory for the consumption of many fatty fish caught in the Great Pee Dee, and adding another coal plant would only exacerbate the problem.
What’s living in your water? (Not much!)
Guest blog by Brian Smart and Katharine Callaway
The 330,000 plus residents of Charleston County use approximately 114 million gallons of water per day (Mgal/d) only about 12 percent of which is from ground water sources. The other 101 million gallons come from surface water sources, mainly the Edisto River and Bushy Park Reservoir. This raw water is subject to runoff from rainwater, agriculture, industry and air pollution, which deposit chemicals, bacteria and organic contaminants in the streams and rivers feeding the lakes and reservoirs. Intensive treatment is necessary before the surface water is suitable for human consumption. 
The water treatment plant in Hanahan has the responsibility of making our water safe to use. After being screened to remove large objects such as tree branches, dead animals and garbage, a combination of chlorine and ammonia is added to the water to kill bacteria and viruses, and lime is added to adjust the pH levels. Next, aluminum sulfate is mixed into the water, acting as a coagulating element to bond with the previously added chemicals, now dead bacteria, viruses and other microscopic material and cause them to drop out of the water stream as sediments. These sediments are disposed of by spraying them on a forested area near the water treatment facility. Finally, the water is passed though a series of fine mineral filters and then treated with more chlorine, ammonia and lime, as well as fluoride to keep your teeth healthy and orthophosphate to prevent heavy metals from leaching out of your plumbing. If anything can live through this process, it must be a very tough organism indeed.
An impending “water world”
A documentary on PBS shows in details how the rising water levels as a result of climate change will affect regions around the world that live close to the coasts. Check it out.
Hawaii Volcanoes
Guest blog by Shannon Maylath and Hanifah Paul
Hawaii is home to some of the world’s most active and largest volcanoes. 
The volcanoes that make up the Hawaiian islands are a chain of shield volcanoes that have formed over a hot spot in the pacific ocean, starting around 70 million years ago. The islands have progressed from northwest to southeast over time, making Kohala the oldest, Kilauea the youngest, and Mauna Kea, Hualalai, and Mauna Loa in between. Kilauea is labeled one of Earth’s most active volcanoes. Eruptions at Kilauaea primarily occur along the East and Southwest rift zones. Kilauea has been issuing lava continuously since 1983 while written records for volcanic eruption at this site go as far back as 1820.
Mauna Loa is the most massive volcano on Earth with a volume estimated at approximately 18,000 cubic miles. The low silica content of Mauna Loa produces fast moving lava and gentle, non-explosive eruptions. The drifting of the Pacific Plate will eventually carry Mauna Loa away from the hot spot in about 500,000 years, leaving the volcano extinct.
While Haualalai, the third most active volcano in Hawaii, has not issued an eruption since 1801, geologists project an eruption within the next 100 years, labeling it potentially dangerous. Earthquakes recorded in the 1970’s have been linked to the rising magma levels in Haualalai.
While Haleakala volcano has remained dormant for about 600 years, the newly forming Lo’ihi (a seamount ) is projected by geologists to have intermediate eruptions.
The Hawaiian volcanoes affect many aspects of life on the islands. They can be destructive to property, often shutting down roads and occasionally requiring evacuation, or beneficial by bringing in tourism and interest in the state’s unusual environment.
geological hazards, geology | Comment (0)Will the Yellowstone erupt?
Guest blog by Ryan Riols and Jacqueline Casteel
Yellowstone National Park, located in the western United States is considered a super volcano. 
So what exactly is a super volcano? According to R.S.J Sparks,
A super eruption is a scaled up version of a typical volcanic outburst. Each is caused by a rising and growing chamber of hot molten rock known as magma.
So now that we know this, what would happen if the super volcano known as Yellowstone were to erupt? 
The eruption of Yellowstone would easily be the greatest catastrophe that the modern world has ever experienced. The eruption would be preceded by several massive earthquakes and the Yellowstone Plateau would begin to rise to extreme levels. Gases would begin to build and once released the explosion would affect the majority of North America. Massive ash falls would cover up to half of the United States and travel throughout the atmosphere blocking the sun. This would cause temperatures to fall and would lead to devastating agricultural failures. Link. Most scientists predict that this eruption will not occur for thousands of years, however, it is inevitable and a disaster the United States will eventually be faced with.