Images

The significant flood risk consequences of damage to coral reefs from Hurricanes Irma and Maria clarify why the defense benefits from this natural infrastructure should be recovered, repaired and restored.

Maps of Puerto Rico show the increase in annual coastal hazard risk due to damage by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

1. Increase in population at risk due to coral reef damage per kilometer (top)
2. Increase in value ($) of assets at risk due to coral reef damage per kilometer (bottom)

Maps show the potential decrease in annual coastal hazard risk provided by coral reef restoration in Florida.

Maps show the potential decrease in annual coastal hazard risk provided by coral reef restoration in Puerto Rico.

Report Summary

The Social and Economic Benefits of Coral Reef Restoration in Florida

Targeted restoration of reef natural infrastructure can protect U.S. people and property from significant risk of future flooding.

Key Points

Coral reef restoration can yield significant flood reduction benefits. These natural defenses were damaged in the 2017 hurricanes; their recovery would reduce the risks of further storm damages to nature, people and property.

Report Summary

The Social and Economic Benefits of Coral Reef Restoration in Puerto Rico

Key Points

Coral reef restoration can yield significant flood reduction benefits. These natural defenses were damaged in the 2017 hurricanes; their recovery would reduce the risks of further storm damages to nature, people and property.

Continuous water quality station on the Mystic River at the Mystic Seaport, Mystic Connecticut (Site ID 412141071580200). Setup includes top and bottom multiparameter sondes and velocity uplooker.

Photo looking downstream from the Pack Creek Road Bridge shows the rain gage on top with a USGS sticker. Below is a solar panel for power. The other white round object contains the data logger and satellite antenna.

USGS New York Water Science Center Research Hyrologist Neil Terry preparing for resistivity surveys in Northern Minnesota. (Credit: Josh Woda, USGS NY WSC, Public domain.)

USGS infographic on the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck central Virginia August 23, 2011, east coast earthquake hazards and how the USGS is helping inform critical decisions to protect lives and property. 

Full Text Description:

10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE M5.8 EARTHQUAKE IN VIRGINIA
America’s Most Widely Felt Earthquake

On the north margin of the south sulfur bank, which was exposed during the Kīlauea summit collapse events in 2018, light-colored deposits are evidence of the ongoing alteration from volcanic gas emissions.

An HVO scientist uses a syringe to capture a sample from an area within Kīlauea caldera that was identified as emitting elevated levels of the volcanic gas carbon dioxide. The sample is transferred to a gas sample bag, which will later be taken to a lab for chemical analyses. USGS photo by K. Mulliken on August 3, 2021.

I Am A...Climate Modeler coloring page.

Scientists RC Mickey and Dave Thompson from the USGS St.

During the gas survey of Kīlauea caldera, HVO scientists walk transects in a grid-like pattern. As they traverse, the MultiGAS instruments that they are carrying on their backs measure the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), water vapor (H₂O), and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S).

Spatter ramparts from the April 30, 1982, Kīlauea summit eruption remain visible on the floor of Kīlauea caldera. During this brief eruption, which lasted approximately 19 hours, lava erupted from a 1-km-long (0.6 mile) fissure that extended to the northeast of Halema‘uma‘u.

From the northwest corner of the largest down-dropped block within Kīlauea caldera, HVO scientists were able to spot the southern edge of the lava lake that was recently active, from December 2020 to May 2021. The ongoing Kīlauea caldera gas survey is being conducted with permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

On Tuesday, August 10, HVO scientists traversed the west and south rims of Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea, to collect photos of the inactive lava lake from many different angles. Such a collection of photos will enable the construction of a three-dimensional model of the crusted lake surface using structure-from-motion software.

Photo Contest Winner | August 2021 | Where We Work
Hoosick River near Williamstown, MA sculpture