Still Life
Commencement across Penn State: Spring 2012
Spring commencement 2012 under way
Penn State, Moroccan students problem-solve together
Finals Week Spring Semester 2012
Children explore career options at University Park
Painting the Lines at Beaver Stadium
Did They Get It Right? - RedTails
Iconic Penn State elm taken down over spring break 2012
We ... are Penn State (December 19, 2011)
Disease stricken matching elm tree slated for removal
Penn State's creamery, from the cow to the cone
After months of very little rainfall, and with long-term weather forecasts predicting little improvement through fall and early winter, well owners across the state have begun to grow uneasy, according to a groundwater expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. (more)
If it seems to you, as you drive around Pennsylvania, that the leaves on many trees began turning colors early this year, it's because they have, according to a forest expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. On the heels of one of the hottest, driest summers on record for Pennsylvania, hardwoods across the state began going from green to gold, orange, red and purple -- and to dull brown -- in mid-September. "It has been so dry, and trees in some areas are so challenged by drought conditions, that their leaves just went straight to brown and are falling off the branches already," said Marc Abrams, professor of forest ecology and physiology. (more)
In 1969 Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, the Woodstock festival changed music and perhaps the culture forever, Sesame Street debuted on television and Richard Nixon became president. The first quarter of that year was also the only one in Pennsylvania since 1895 drier than the start of 2009, according to Penn State weather and precipitation experts. (more)
Unless you are a chemist, arsenic and trihalomethanes are probably of little consequence to you, or so you might think. But what if these are in your water supply? The Water Resource Extension Group in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences worked with several partners to develop a new Drinking Water Interpretation Tool Web page that can help homeowners understand the significance of chemicals found in laboratory water test results of their well, spring or cistern. (more)
A two-year, statewide study of private water wells by Penn State Cooperative Extension has revealed both good news and bad news about much of the state's drinking water. First the positives: The levels of lead and nitrates in wells seem to have fallen sharply in the last 25 years, and well owners are generally happy with their water supplies. The negatives? Forty percent of the more than 700 wells tested failed to meet the state's safe-drinking-water standards for at least one contaminant. And most of the people with contaminated wells were unaware that they had a problem. (more)
If it seems like this winter has brought more ice storms than normal, there's a good reason, according to Penn State weather experts. It really has. According to Paul Knight, Pennsylvania state climatologist, the Keystone State feels the effect of 12 to 18 winter storms during a typical winter. Of those storms, only two or three would normally produce widespread icy conditions. "Many parts of Pennsylvania have already exceeded their usual number of icing events for a year, and the winter is not even half over," he says. "There is no doubt that the frequency of freezing rain during December and so far in January is unusual, particularly for the central part of the state." (more)
The very dry summer in Clearfield, Cameron, Elk and Potter counties could be bad news for their fall foliage, Marc Abrams worries, but the situation could turn around with more prolonged rains -- if they come soon -- perhaps from another tropical storm. (more)
Reminiscent of Pennsylvania's halcyon days of oil production and coal mining early in the last century, the current boom in natural-gas well drilling is a concern for the state's streams and groundwater, according to an expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. (more)
