Italy and Myanmar Earthquakes

Both Italy and Myanmar had Earthquakes this week.

Both epicenters sit on the Eurasian Plate.

Are these Earthquakes related or is it just a coincidence?

This is what seismologists have to say.

Colorado's Most Expensive Wildfires

These two fires located by Colorad Springs might not be Colorado's largest wildfires by acerage,

but they are the most expensive measured in terms of insured losses.

In two back-to-back wildfire seasons, over 800 homes were destroyed

during the Waldo Canyon Fire in 2012 and the Black Forest Fire in 2013. 

Colorado's Pestilent Bark Beetles

This map shows the destruction from Mountain Pine Beetles (in purple) and Spruce Beetles (in orange) within the state of Colorado from 1994-2013.  

This map is based on aerial surveillance conducted by the US Forest Service.  

This map does not distinguish between undamaged and unsurveyed areas.

(see disclaimer at the bottom)

The video shows the cumulative progression from year to year.

(For more information, click on the bark beetles name above.)

Disclaimer:

Due to the nature of aerial surveys, the data on this map will only provide rough estimates of location, intensity and the resulting trend information for agents detectable from the air.  Many of the most destructive diseases are not represented on this map because these agents are not detectable from aerial surveys.  The data presented on this map should only be used as a partial indicator of insect and disease activity, and should be validated on the ground for actual location and casual agent.  Shaded areas show locations where tree mortality or defoliation were apparent from the air.  Intensity of damage is variable and not all trees in shaded areas are dead or defoliated. 

The insect and disease data represented on this map are available digitally from the USDA Forest Service, Region Two Forest Health Management group.  The cooperators reserve the right to correct, update, modify or replace GIS products.  Using this map for purposes other than those for which it was intended may yield inaccurate or misleading results.

Superbowl Champs and Losers

2013 Colorado Wildfires

These are the rated wildfires (by class size) of 2013 for the state of Colorado. 

I would have created a map for 2014, but we had a lot of rain this year instead of fires.

(That's a good thing!)

Colorado Earthquakes and Injection Wells

There were earthquakes in Greeley, Colorado this summer: a place more associated with dairy farms and hail than earthquakes.  USGS investigated and found there is a link between these new earthquakes and injection wells (wells that inject the left-over waste fluid from fracking deep into the earth).  This map shows the location of injection wells in Colorado and earthquakes that have occurred since 1973 with a magnitude of 2.0 or greater.  You'll see the occurrence of earthquakes has increased since the 1990's.  If you want further information, check out USGS and this article from the Wall Street Journal.

Ghost Sightings

In the spirit of upcoming festivities I thought this map would be a good way to start off.

The data is from Ghosts of America if you have further interest in reading about the various ghost sightings throughout the country.  I will leave it up to you to decide if you are happy that your state is light or dark in colour.

More maps will be coming! 

If you have an idea for a map or have data you want turned into a map,

write me a comment or message.