December 31, 2004, Hour Two: Tsunami Science Birding

Science Friday > Archives > 2004 > December > December 31, 2004: Hour Two: Tsunami Science / Birding

Earlier this week, a massive undersea earthquake set off tsunami waves that devastated coastal communities in much of Asia. In this hour, we'll talk about how tsunamis are created, their effects, and whether an effective system can be created to provide warning of these killer waves.

Then, we'll turn our attention to the trees, and check in with a winter tradition, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The annual scientific event has been taking place for 105 years. It uses bird sighting data that volunteers across the country have collected during a period spanning ten days on either side of Christmas. That data, compiled by researchers at the Audubon Society, is used to help identify population trends caused by changes to birds' food, predators, or habitat. We'll hear about how this year's count is going, and whether researchers are seeing any trends in the data.

Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern), and share your personal birding experiences.

Guests:

Harold Mofjeld
Senior Scientist, NOAA/Tsunami Research Program
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Seattle, Washington

-----

Geoff LeBaron
Director, Christmas Bird Count
National Audubon Society
Williamsburg, Massachusetts

Greg Butcher
Director, Bird Conservation
National Audubon Society
Washington, DC

This segment produced by Karin Vergoth

Archived Audio:
tsunami research
listen in RealAudio format
listen in Windows Media format

birding
listen in RealAudio format
listen in Windows Media format
streaming audio help from NPR

Books/Articles Discussed:

(find books discussed on previous broadcasts)