Edwin Nissen

Opinion | The Pacific tsunami response is a warning about federal funding for science The better the warning systems perform, the less visible their value becomes — until those systems fail.

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

The open ocean height model really shows how BC and Washington were shielded from the worst by the Alaska peninsula/Aleutian arc (which lie along the great circle path from Kamchatka). Explains why the wave was that much taller in California

A great thread on advances in tsunami monitoring and tsunami science.

Why a recent earthquake didn't wreak havoc, despite its power After an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Russia's coast triggered tsunami alerts as far as the U.S., experts like seismologist Harold Tobin explain why the impact was far less devastating than expected.

Went on CBS Mornings today to talk about the tsunami and how it all unfolded. They had good questions. www.cbsnews.com/video/why-a-...

Comic. [3-column table with headers Period, My Favorite Part, and My Biggest Complaint] [Row 1] P: *Precambrian*, MFP: Life develops, MBC: Snowball Earth episodes [Row 2] P: Cambrian, MFP: Trilobites!, MBC: Evolution could stand to calm down a little [Row 3] P: Ordovician, MFP: Earth might have had rings, MBC: Scary volcanic eruption in North America [Row 4] P: Silurian, MFP: First land animals, MBC: Earth’s newfound mold problem [Row 5] P: Devonian, MFP: Big mountains in Boston, MBC: Yeah, sure, what those giant killer fish needed was *armor* [Row 6] P: Carboniferous, MFP: Cool forests, MBC: Bugs too big [Row 7] P: Permian, MFP: Pangea, MBC: Google “The Great Dying” [Row 8] P: Triassic, MFP: Tanystropheus [dinosaur with extremely long neck next to tiny person for scale], MBC: Damage to Canada still visible from space at Manicouagan [Row 9] P: Jurassic, MFP: Birds, MBC: Parasitoid wasps [Row 10] P: Cretaceous, MFP: Raptors, MBC: Raptors [Row 11] P: Paleogene, MFP: Pretty horseys!!!, MBC: Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum [Row 12] P: Neogene, MFP: Forests of *Dracaena* Dragonblood Trees, MBC: Zanclean Flood [Row 13] P: Quaternary, MFP: Burrito invented, MBC: Whoever picked this name for the third period of the Cenozoic

Geologic Periods

xkcd.com/3120/

A roundabout would have saved $175 million and there would be virtually no backing up, just a small amount of slowing down

What a loser, sitting for hour upon hour counting bikes on Shelbourne (or so they claim). These people really need to get a life

COMET is delighted to announce the registration of the InSAR Training Workshop 2025 is now open!

It will be held both in-person and online at the University of Leeds from 11-13 November, 2025.

Registration link:
comet.nerc.ac.uk/comet-insar-...

Map showing extent of data coverage, primarily over southern Canada

A hillshade colored by elevation of downtown Toronto draped on Google Earth imagery.

A three panel figure of a section of the Athabasca River in Alberta. Figure A is the Digital Surface Model which includes buildings, trees and other structures. Figure B is the Digital Terrain Model and is a bare-earth representation of the topography. Figure C is the Canopy Height Model (CHM) which is the difference between the DSM and the DTM.

OpenTopography is excited to announce a major expansion to its international data catalog with the addition of the High Resolution Digital Elevation Model from Natural Resources Canada. This 1-meter resolution dataset is ideal for a wide range of applications.

opentopography.org/news/opentop...

It's time to change the conversation about the economy and climate change It's time to change the conversation about the economy and climate change

calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

😍

That’s so exciting! I do love a sea otter ☺️

I missed that Theron wrote a longer and better thread on this study, linked below! bsky.app/profile/ther...

Map showing glacial limits across the Dawson City region of the Yukon. Much of the area was last glaciated 2.6 million years ago, making this a much older landscape than in other parts of Canada

There are broader implications for EQ hazards across western Canada, because this part of Yukon is unusual in having remained ice free during the most recent glaciation, preserving landforms from the early Quaternary. Were this fault in any other part of 🇨🇦, it would probably appear inactive. 3/3

Photo of a large landslide (the Moosehide slide) above Dawson City. Triggered landslides are an important secondary hazard of earthquakes in mountainous regions like the Yukon. Photo by Dana Hatherly/Yukon News.

The Tintina fault hasn’t ruptured during the Holocene so is likely very late into its current earthquake cycle… but how late is a story for another day (requiring trenching). The biggest hazard posed is probably triggering of landslides rather than strong ground shaking per se. 2/3

Exciting new paper in GRL by freshly minted Dr. Theron Finley, who’s discovered evidence for big earthquakes with an unusually long recurrence interval (>10 ka!) on one of North America’s longest faults, previously considered inactive for many millions of yrs. 1/3

Flock of pelicans flying over open water. Mountains in distance

Flock of pelicans flying over open water. Boat in distance

Flock of pelicans flying over open water. Boat in distance

Rare sighting of brown pelicans (a flock of ~20 flying in formation) from McMicking Pt, Victoria #yyj. First time I’ve seen them in eight years living here!

I’d wondered whether that was you!

I'm excited to announce that we are seeking an External Engagement Lead for the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network! PNSN is the trusted authority on earthquakes and related topics in the PNW. Help us shape earthquake preparedness, advocacy for resilience, and hazards information all across Cascadia.

We can all do our bit by only submitting our work to not-for-profits and only accepting reviewing requests from not-for-profits

I like the suggestion that funding agencies insist on work being published in not-for-profit journals. The comment from Springer-Nature is insulting—their “solution” being we just give them ever more free labour!

One of the sweetest stories I’ve read in a long time - thanks for sharing ☺️

Picture of a cherub statue holding a plumb bob

Found the geodesy-themed cherub in the St. Gallen library in Switzerland

Stay calm. The ‘earthquake swarm’ at Mount Rainier is normal Hundreds of earthquakes are detected at or near Mount Rainier each year, though typical swarms are smaller than what started last night.

Here is a good non-technical article explaining what is going on at Mt. Rainier today. Biggest swarm since 2009; not rising to the level of "unrest" and not concerning at this point. But very interesting and a sign that Rainier is absolutely an active volcano! ⚒️ www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Nice summary of a cool new study that uses historical air photos to link the acceleration of deep-seated landslides to glacial retreat and slope debuttressing… focused on Alaska but of equal relevance to western Canada

Small M1.9 earthquake this morning just offshore #VictoriaBC, at 5:39 am PDT, at 9 km depth. While not large enough to cause damage and not likely to be felt, another reminder of the hazard across the region. Well recoded by the @schoolshake.bsky.social @raspishake.bsky.social network.

I think the problem goes deeper… 1) the “top” journals egg on scientists to make sweeping statements about how their work is game-changing (again no shade on this particular paper) and 2) academia as a whole strongly incentivises us to publish in these journals

There was a tragic rockfall yesterday afternoon at Bow Glacier Falls in Banff National Park. Here's a recent story from @ctvnewscalgary.bsky.social about it. I'll try to explain my understanding of the event here over the next few minutes. www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/arti... 🧪⚒️

I am once again pitching my romantic comedy:

- two academics start dating
- discover they are each other's terrible reviewer
- hijinks ensue

Working title: Love is Double-Blind

I understand your argument for federal elections, but for municipal and Provincial elections why not engage PRs in local democracy? They are no less “committed to Canada” than non-dom Canadian citizens who live and pay taxes abroad but who can still vote