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...
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.
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 (...
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...
Jun 1 2010 - 7:36pm
Keeping your car tires properly inflated can trim your carbon footprint, reduce wear and tear on your vehicle, and save yourself some cash at the same time. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that underinflated tires waste about 1.2 billion gallons of gas per year in the U.S. Cutting...
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...
Mar 29 2010 - 10:20am
In December 2009, thousands of leaders and activists from across the planet converged in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Summit. Debate rages as to whether the summit achieved any meaningful movement on addressing climate change. Learn more in the Climate Change section.
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 22 2010 - 5:31pm
Earth as seen from a satellite. More about climate change can be found in our climate change featured story.
Mar 20 2013 - 11:52am
Boring sponges get a bad rap. Their own name betrays them, announcing to the world that they are unexciting, ordinary and quite frankly, boring. However, if ever a misnomer existed, this is it.
Dec 15 2009 - 12:25pm
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...
Climate Change and the Chesapeake Bay
Feb 14 2011 - 4:14pm
Students are working with the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Md., to develop an informal education plan that will communicate information about Chesapeake Bay marsh restoration and explain the effects of climate change and sea-level rise on the bay's marshes. As part of the Third Student Summit...
Jul 9 2010 - 3:22pm
Fossil fuels that power our cars, homes, and businesses add carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. The ocean absorbs large portions of this CO2 and acts as a buffer against climate change. But, Dr. Francisco Chavez of Monterey Bay Research Institute points out that as the ocean absorbs more CO2,...
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
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.
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...
Apr 18 2011 - 1:36pm
Last September, the Citizens of the Sea blog series brought you a story of doom and gloom from the reefs of Bocas del Toro, Panama. That is the time of year we typically study -- and celebrate -- the annual birth of baby corals in the area. We arrived to find very hot water (2010 turned out to...