Field Worker Safety in Urban Environments 2020 Oil Crash Hydraulic Fracturing the Student Scholarship Essay Winners
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TPG is a publication of the American Institute of Professional Geologists THE PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGIST VOLUME 57 NUMBER 3 JUL.AUG.SEP 2020 Student Scholarship Essay Winners Field Worker Safety in Urban Environments 2020 Oil Crash Book review Hydraulic Fracturing GEOSCIENCE CURRENTS Crude Oil Pricing by Currency (2018-2020) This data brief examines the changes in the spot price of crude oil per barrel (BBL) in U.S. dollars and euros from 2018 through March 2020. This period covers the market contraction in late 2018-early 2019 and the beginning of the economic downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic and the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. The graph also shows the cost of barrels of crude oil per Troy ounce of gold, demonstrating the inverse relationship between the price of oil and a wealth reserve commodity such as gold. The U.S. dollar/euro exchange rate over this period narrowed from 0.80 in January 2018 to 0.93 in late February 2020, after which the exchange rate fluctuated between 0.87 and 0.94. Oil prices in 2020 peaked at just over $63 per barrel on 6 January and declined to $19.48 on 20 March. It remains to be seen how the economic impacts of the oil price war and the COVID-19 pandemic will play out over the coming months. Credit: AGI; data derived from EIA, OFX, and the World Gold Council AGI Geoscience Currents: www.americangeosciences.org/geoscience-currents Data Brief 2020-003; April 2, 2020 Written and compiled by Leila Gonzales, AGI © 2020 American Geosciences Institute The Professional Geologist Volume 57 Number 3 JUL.AUG.SEP 2020 INSIDE THIS ISSUE FEATURES Hurricanes - Thoughts on Causes and Possible Mitigations, with Notes on an Insurance Industry View After Hurricane Katrina Barney Paul Popkin 28 Book Review: Environmental Considerations Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing Operations: Adjusting to the Shale Revolution in a Green World Stephen J. Baker- MEM-2353 33 328 Book Review: Underland: A Deep Time Journey John L. Berry - CPG-04032 35 Safety of Lone Field Workers in the Urban Environment Phil Reimer 39 Tracking the Impact of COVID-19 on the Geoscience Enterprise Leila Gonzales, Ph.D. and Christopher Keane, Ph.D 54 2020 Crash and the Shape of Oil to Come Rasoul Sorkhabi, Ph.D., CPG-11981 55 654 55 On the Cover: USGS ground failure experts examine landslides after Hurricane Maria in the municipality of Las Marias, Puerto Rico. Date taken: March 18, 2020. Credit: William Schulz, USGS. Public domain. AIPG National Executive Committee PRESIDENT - J. Todd McFarland, CPG Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. O: (615) 577-7157, Tennessee Section [email protected] PRESIDENT-ELECT - Nancy J. Wolverson, CPG Consulting Geologist O: (775) 770-4615, Nevada Section [email protected] PAST PRESIDENT- Keri A. 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Berry, CPG-04032 As we start, as a nation, to go back to work again, please be able to count on stable oil prices but the nature of the beast follow CDC (and state, local and national government) is that in a free market they are inherently unstable. The AGI guidelines to ensure that you stay safe and do not catch column also addresses some of the implications of oil pricing. COVID-19 or help to spread it. In spite of the 1.8 million I want to publicly congratulate Rasoul on his excellent confirmed cases, the 100,000 deaths and the 400,000 people article about the life and work of the famous Scottish Geologist who have recovered, less than 1% of the US population have Archibald Geikie (1835-1924) on p. 34 of the current (June 2020) had the disease: estimates are that we need 70-90% of the issue of GSA Today. I personally find it very hard to realize that population to have acquired immunity in order to achieve Geikie, this legendary character from the far distant past, died, herd immunity.