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"Science 25 November 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6059 pp. 1052-1053 DOI: 10.1126/science.334.6059.1052 * News Focus Adaptation to Climate Change Adaptation to Climate Change Time to Adapt to a Warming World, But Where's the Science? 1. Richard A. Kerr With dangerous global warming seemingly inevitable, users of climate information-from water utilities to international aid workers-are turning to climate scientists for guidance. But usable knowledge is in short supply. Figure View larger version: * In this page * In a new window Adapt to that. Climate will change, but decision-makers want to know how, where, and when. "CREDIT: KOOS VAN DER LENDE/NEWSCOM" DENVER, COLORADO-The people who brought us the bad news about climate change are making an effort to help us figure out what to do about it. As climate scientists have shown, continuing to spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere will surely bring sweeping changes to the world-changes that humans will find it difficult or impossible to adapt to. But beyond general warnings, there is another sort of vital climate research to be done, speakers told 1800 attendees at a meeting here last month. And so far, they warned, researchers have delivered precious little of the essential new science. At the meeting, subtitled "Climate Research in Service to Society,"* the new buzzword was "actionable": actionable science, actionable information, actionable knowledge. "There's an urgent need for actionable climate information based on sound science," said Ghassem Asrar, director of the World Climate Research Programme, the meeting's organizer based in Geneva, Switzerland. What's needed is not simply data but processed information that an engineer sizing a storm-water pipe to serve for the next 50 years or a farmer in Uganda considering irrigating his fields can use to make better decisions in a warming world. Researchers preparing for the next international climate assessment, due in 2013, delive

Science 25 November 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6059 p. 1039 DOI: 10.1126/science.334.6059.1039-b * News of the Week Random Sample Mongolia's 'Ice Shield' Figure View larger version: * In this page * In a new window Hot zone. Flanked by desert, Ulan Bator will be cooled in summer by an "ice shield." "CREDIT: BRÜCKE-OSTEUROPA/WIKIPEDIA" As the coldest capital on Earth, you might think the last thing Ulan Bator needs is more ice. But that is just what it's about to get under a geoengineering trial aimed at "storing" freezing winter temperatures to cool and water the city during the summer. At the end of this month, engineers will drill a series of bores through the ice on the Tuul River, pump up water from below, and spray it on the surface where it will freeze. This process will be repeated throughout the winter, adding layer after layer to create a chunk of ice that will be 7 or 8 meters thick by the spring. It's an attempt to artificially create the ultra-thick slabs-known as naleds in Russian-that occur naturally in far northern climes when rivers or springs push through surface cracks. Nomads have long made their summer camps near such phenomena, which melt much later than normal ice. Flanked by desert and plagued by summer temperatures that can rise close to 40°C, Ulan Bator's municipal government hopes the $724,000 experiment will create a cool microclimate and provide fresh water as the naled melts. ECOS & EMI, the Anglo-Mongolian company behind the plan, has still greater ambitions. "Everyone is panicking about melting glaciers and icecaps, but nobody has yet found a cheap, environmentally friendly alternative," says Robin Grayson, a geologist in Ulan Bator for ECOS & EMI. "If you know how to manipulate them, naled ice shields can repair permafrost and build cool parks in cities." The process, Grayson says, can be replicated anywhere where winter temperatures fall below −5°C for at least a couple of months.

December 18, 2012 The Ten Best Ocean Stories of 2012 | | | Share on redditReddit | Share on diggDigg | Share on stumbleuponStumble | Share on emailEmail | More Sharing ServicesMore Two market squids mating 2012 was a big year for squid science. Photo Credit: © Brian Skerry, www.brianskerry.com Despite covering 70 percent of the earth's surface, the ocean doesn't often make it into the news. But when it does, it makes quite a splash (so to speak). Here are the top ten ocean stories we couldn't stop talking about this year, in no particular order. Add your own in the comments! 2012: The Year of the Squid From the giant squid's giant eyes (the better to see predatory sperm whales, my dear), to the vampire squid's eerie diet of remains and feces, the strange adaptations and behavior of these cephalopods amazed us all year. Scientists found a deep-sea squid that dismembers its own glowing arm to distract predators and make a daring escape. But fascinating findings weren't relegated to the deep: at the surface, some squids will rocket themselves above the waves to fly long distances at top speeds. James Cameron Explores the Deep Sea Filmmaker James Cameron has never shied away from marine movie plots (See: Titanic, The Abyss), but this year he showed he was truly fearless, becoming the first person to hit the deepest point on the seafloor (35,804 feet) in a solo submarine. While he only managed to bring up a single mud sample from the deepest region, he found thriving biodiversity in the other deep-sea areas his expedition explored, including giant versions of organisms found in shallow water. Schooling sardines form a "bait ball." Small fish, such as these schooling sardines, received well-deserved attention for being an important part of the food chain in 2012. Photo Credit: © Erwin Poliakoff, Flickr Small Fish Make a Big Impact Forage fish-small, schooling fish that are gulped down by predators-should be left in the ocean for larger fish, marin

"This 5-part series featured in The Seattle Times Newspapers in Education, was created to help educators introduce the complex process of how seafood gets to market. Use the classroom guide (with a glossary and activities) plus the leading questions posed within the series to engage your students. "

RISE ABOVE PLASTIC (RAP) SUCCESS! Green Ambassadors, in partnership with The Surfrider Foundation and The Algalita Marine Research Foundation, created the Rise Above Plastics Program, a student speaker series that encourages Los Angelenos to curb their single-use habits. Through the program, students learn about the impact of plastics on our lives and the environment, including plastic marine debris, chemicals and toxins. Students spread the word to their peers and the community by delivering engaging presentations that encourage practical solutions. In addition to learning about the inherent problems of living in a throwaway society, students learn the value of teamwork and polish their public speaking and presentation skills. In 2009, nearly 20 students participated in the program, delivering 30 presentations to more than 850 students and community members!

Ocean Probes To Help Refine Climate Change Forecasting; 'Oceanography Is Risky; You Lose Things' by Underwatertimes.com News Service - August 5, 2011 17:43 EST LOS ANGELES, California -- A USC researcher has opened a new window to understanding how the ocean impacts climate change. Lisa Collins, environmental studies lecturer with the USC Dornsife College, spent four years collecting samples from floating sediment traps in the San Pedro Basin off the Los Angeles coast, giving scientists a peek at how much carbon is locked up in the ocean and where it comes from. Collins' research suggests that the majority of particulate organic carbon (POC) falling to the basin floor is marine-derived, not the result of runoff from rainfall. This means that the ocean off the coast of Southern California is acting as a carbon "sink" - taking carbon out of the atmosphere via phytoplankton and locking it up in sediment. Though estimates regarding the effect of carbon in the ocean already exist, her hard data can help climatologists create more accurate predictions of how carbon will impact global warming. What is unique about Collins' study is that it is not just a snapshot of POC falling, but rather a finely detailed record of four years of POC production, showing how much fell and when. "It's all tied to climate change," said Collins, who started the research as a graduate student working for USC Earth Sciences Professor Will Berelson. "This lets us see patterns. "Our data can help climate modelers better predict the interactions between the oceans and atmosphere with respect to carbon which can help them better predict how much carbon dioxide will end up sequestered over the long term as sediments in the ocean," she said. Collins' study is among the longest of its kind in the region. A similar study was conducted in Santa Monica Basin from 1985-1991, and another is currently underway in Hawaii. Her findings appear in the August issue of Deep-Sea Research I. Between Janua

How is global temperature regulated? An experimental representation - Simple experiments to help pupils understand how different parameters regulate temperature at the Earth's surface. Interaction at the Air-Water Interface, part 1 - A very simple experiment to demonstrate gas exchange and equilibration at the boundary layer between air and water. Pupils will also observe acidification of water due to CO2 introduced directly in the water. Interaction at the Air-Water Interface, part 2 - A second set of experiment to demonstrate gas exchange and equilibration at the boundary layer between air and water. Pupils observe a high atmospheric CO2 concentration will produce water acidification. Uptake of Carbon Dioxide from the Water by Plants - The following experiments will demonstrate the role of plants in mitigating the acidification caused when CO2 is dissolved in water. Carbon Dioxide Fertilization of Marine Microalgae (Dunalliela sp.) Cultures: Marine microalgae in different atmospheric CO2 concentration - An experiment designed to illustrate the impact of carbon dioxide on microalgal growth in the aquatic environment. Introduction to the principles of climate modelling - Working with real data in spreadsheets to create a climate model, students discover the global carbon budget and make their own predictions for the next century. Global carbon budget between 1958 and 2007 - Working with real global carbon budget data, students produce graphs to find the best representation of the data to make predictions about human CO2 emissions for the next century. This activity is also a nice application of percentages. Estimation of natural carbon sinks - Working with real global carbon budget data, students estimate how much of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere as a result of human activities is absorbed naturally each year. How does temperature affect the solubility of CO2 en the water? - The following experiments will explore effects of water temperature on sol

College of Exploration\nThis is the start page of all COSEE-West online workshops. Two online workshops are hosted per year.\nAll COSEE-West workshops are free.\n\nIf you are new create a login and password for free

NOAA Ocean Explorer A Watered-down Topographic Map Submarine Ring of Fire Expedition FOCUS: Topographic and bathymetric maps GRADE LEVEL: 6-8 FOCUS QUESTION: How does one create a topographic map and what are the differences between topographic maps and bathymetric charts?

A major puzzle of paleoclimatology is why, after a long interval of cooling climate, each late Quaternary ice age ended with a relatively short warming leg called a termination. We here offer a comprehensive hypothesis of how Earth emerged from the last global ice age. A prerequisite was the growth of very large Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, whose subsequent collapse created stadial conditions that disrupted global patterns of ocean and atmospheric circulation. The Southern Hemisphere westerlies shifted poleward during each northern stadial, producing pulses of ocean upwelling and warming that together accounted for much of the termination in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. Rising atmospheric CO2 during southern upwelling pulses augmented warming during the last termination in both polar hemispheres.

Information Science Bounds and Vision Atlas of Science Visualizing What We Know by Katy Börner MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2010. 266 pp. $$29.95, £22.95. ISBN 9780262014458. 1. Mason A. Porter + Author Affiliations 1. The reviewer is at the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3LB, UK, and at the CABDyN Complexity Centre and Somerville College, University of Oxford. 1. E-mail: porterm@maths.ox.ac.uk Visualization is a crucial but underappreciated part of science. As venues like the American Physical Society's Gallery of Fluid Motion and Gallery of Nonlinear Images illustrate every year, good visuals can make science more beautiful, more artistic, more tangible, and often more discernible. Katy Börner's continuing exhibition Places & Spaces: Mapping Science (1) and her book Atlas of Science: Visualizing What We Know arise from a similar spirit but are much more ambitious. Visualization is one of the most compelling aspects of science. Breathtaking visuals from sources like fractals and Disneyland's long-dead "Adventure Thru Inner Space" ride are what originally inspired me toward my personal scientific path, so I welcome any resource that promises to bring the visual joys of discovery to a wide audience. Importantly, Börner's exhibition and book are not mere artistic manifestations, although they would be impressive accomplishments even if that were her only goal. Some scientists have occasionally had great success in the visual arts; for example, physicist Eric Heller has long exhibited the gorgeous fruits of his research on quantum chaos and other topics (2). To fully appreciate Börner's efforts, however, one must be conscious that she is deeply concerned not just with visualization itself but with the science of visualization. Accordingly, her book discusses the history of the science of visualization, where it is now, and where she thinks it can go. Atlas of Scie