Rivers in Queensland – which began flooding in late 2010, with the floods getting worse in recent weeks – are also carrying heavy sediment loads to the coast.
This natural-color image was captured yesterday by instrumentation aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. Here you see the Burdekin River – the waters around Cape Bowling Green – turned muddy brown, as a thick plume of sediment approached the famous Great Barrier Reef. The devastating floodwaters across the Australian state of Queensland – which now cover an area the size of France and Germany combined – might not recede for weeks, according to the state’s Premier Anna Bligh.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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