Climate Change

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How will climate change affect glaciers and ice sheets

How will climate change affect glaciers and ice sheets?

Apr 24, 2013 - 9:45AMHow will changes in temperature affect glaciers and ice sheets? Dr. Sarah Das from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explores this phenomenon first hand in Greenland, where she studies how the melted ice travels through...
Apr 19, 2013 - 10:05AM
What is blue carbon? It's a term used to describe the carbon that is...
Mar 19, 2013 - 9:00AM
This foraminifer was collected as it floated about 3 meters below...

SPOTLIGHT

Climate Change

Today, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in our atmosphere are the highest they've been in 15 million years. It's the cumulative...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
How do plants respond to rising CO2 levels? To find out, plant physiologist Bert Drake at SERC exposed marsh plants near the Chesapeake Bay to CO2 levels expected in 50 and 100 years. Different species and ecosystems respond differently—leaving uncertainty about the ability of plants to act as...
Aug 17 2011 - 3:25pm
Chapter 3: Fragile Fauna Jelly Critters Grade Level: 5-6 Focus: Life Science- Gelatinous zooplankton in the Canada Basin  Description: In this activity, students will be able to compare and contrast at least three different groups of organisms that are includ
Mar 25 2010 - 11:32am
Sponsored by the United Nations, the Global Ocean Observing System is committed to sharing observations about the ocean to all nations. Some of the data they collect comes from buoys like the one shown here. The buoys help scientists investigate a host of environmental questions and issues,...
Feb 7 2011 - 8:01pm
What can students do to help the ocean? It turns out, a lot! These students from California are among dozens from the U.S. and Mexico who are developing action plans on ocean and climate-related issues in their local communities. They’re getting advice from their teachers and experts at...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Compare the healthy coral on the left with the bleached coral on the right. Increased water temperatures caused the bleached coral to lose the microscopic algae that give the coral color and provide it with food. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in the Coral Reefs section.
A healthy coral reef in Indonesia
Dec 15 2009 - 12:19pm
Coral reefs are beautiful, vibrant ecosystems that house roughly one quarter of all marine species and provide billions of dollars in products and services to humans each year. But they are also vulnerable to human activities – both direct disturbances and small, indirect effects that build up over...
Dr  Jan Backman  Marine Geologist
Mar 26 2010 - 1:03pm
Drilling near the North Pole, Dr. Jan Backman reveals a brief moment in time when the Arctic was subtropical. More about world climate change can be found in our Climate Change featured story.
Jul 24 2012 - 11:45am
Today, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in our atmosphere are the highest they've been in 15 million years. It's the cumulative impact of an ever-expanding population -- 7 billion people and rising -- and an ever-increasing thirst for energy, requiring 24/7 electricity, factories, cars, trucks, planes...
Jan 14 2011 - 7:03pm
Eighty high-school students from across the United States and Mexico are teaming up with educators and experts to develop action plans that will address an ocean/climate-related issue in their local communities—such as the impact of runoff on water quality and the effects of sea-level rise and...
Dec 3 2012 - 10:08am
It’s confirmed: both Antarctica and Greenland are losing ice—around 350 billion tons each year—and, as a result, sea level has risen 11.1 millimeters worldwide since 1992. This photo shows a summertime channel created by the flow of melted ice, which ultimately carries the water away from the...
Nov 1 2011 - 11:03am
"This World of Ours, Does not feel steady, We keep rotating, Oi! What will happen to us?"
2011 Student Summit on the Ocean   Coasts Webcast  Part 4
Mar 28 2011 - 3:12pm
Recorded Feb. 15, 2011, this video from the Third Student Summit on the Ocean and Coasts includes presentations that were given by delegations from the Mystic Aquarium (01:00), Gulf Coast Research Laboratory & Marine Education Center (17:00), Seattle Aquarium (30:15) and the Waikiki Aquarium (...
Sep 20 2011 - 12:33pm
At the ends of the Earth, life thrives despite extreme conditions. In the Arctic and Southern Oceans, organisms have evolved adaptations to cope with year-round cold and six months of darkness. But the tough critters living in these harsh climates belie the delicate balance that holds the ecosystem...
Mar 2 2010 - 6:00pm
We’re only two months into 2010, and climate change is shaping up to be one of the year’s big buzz topics. Our friends at NOAA have released a prototype of their new Climate Portal.
Nov 29 2012 - 11:11am
Over a 10-year period NOAA scientists have collected 72,000 seawater samples, and their data show that the ocean is becoming more acidic because of climate change-caused warming. That small shift is enough to dissolve the shells of animals like this pteropod in the lab—or even in the ocean. Because...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
What is coral bleaching? These white corals in the Gulf of Mexico’s Flower Garden Bank National Marine Sanctuary are bleached due to an increase in water temperatures, which causes corals to lose the microscopic algae that provide them with food. Bleaching spells trouble for coral reefs. Learn more...