COSEE-West is one of several NSF funded COSEE centers and is based in Los Angeles. The goals of COSEE-West are to create connections between scientists, teachers, students, and the public to effectively communicate current, ocean-related science.
We know climate change can affect us, but does climate change alter something as vast, deep and mysterious as our oceans? For years, scientists have studied the world's oceans by sending out ships and divers, deploying data-gathering buoys, and by taking aerial measurements from planes. But one of the better ways to understand oceans is to gain an even broader perspective - the view from space. NASA's Earth observing satellites do more than just take pictures of our planet. High-tech sensors gather data, including ocean surface temperature, surface winds, sea level, circulation, and even marine life. Information the satellites obtain help us understand the complex interactions driving the world's oceans today - and gain valuable insight into how the impacts of climate change on oceans might affect us on dry land.
A new Rapid Response Assessment report released 14 October 2009 at the Diversitas Conference, Cape Town Conference Centre, South Africa. Compiled by experts at GRID-Arendal and UNEP in collaboration with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the UNESCO International Oceanographic Commissions and other institutions, the report highlights the critical role of the oceans and ocean ecosystems in maintaining our climate and in assisting policy makers to mainstream an oceans agenda into national and international climate change initiatives
"As the amount of Carbon Dioxide continues to build up in the atmosphere it is also changing the chemistry of the ocean. Ocean surveys and modeling studies have revealed that the pH of the ocean is decreasing (which means the ocean is becoming more acidic) due to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide. This changing oceanic environment will have severe implications for life in the ocean.
COSEE NOW is pleased to present A plague in air and sea: Neutralizing the acid of progress a new audio slideshow that features Debora Inglesias-Rodriguez.
In this scientist profile, Dr. Inglesias-Rodriguez, a Biological Oceanographer at the University of Southampton National Oceanography Centre, shares her story of how she grew up loving the ocean and became interested in science. She also explains how witnessing the effects of climate change has lead her to research how organisms like Sea Urchins are being affected by ocean acidification."
SEAS curriculum
This curriculum is designed to teach students about the mid-ocean ridge environment. Each unit contains several activities related to a theme.
Current: The Journal of Marine Education, vol 25, no.1 [http://www.mcbi.org/what/what_pdfs/MCBI_Current.pdf]
-The Threat of Acidification to Ocean Ecosystems by J. Guinotte and V.J. Fabry
-Researcher Spotlight: Gretchen Hofmann, Ecological Physiologist by S. Brooke
-Anticipating Ocean Acidification's Economic Consequences on Commerial Fisheries by S.R. Cooley and S.C. Doney
Table of Contents
About Science for All Americans and
Atlas of Science Literacy.................................................. 4
From Chapter 1: The Nature of Science ............................... 5
From Chapter 3: The Nature of Technology ......................... 7
Map: Scientifi c Investigations ............................................. 11
Map: Interaction of Technology and Society ..................... 13
Map: Decisions about Using Technology ........................... 15
From Chapter 4: The Physical Setting ............................... 16
Recommended Reading ..................................................... 17
Map: Weather and Climate .................................................. 19
Map: Use of Earth's Resources ............................................ 21
From Chapter 8: The Designed World ................................ 22
From Chapter 5: The Living Environment .......................... 23
Map: Energy Resources ...................................................... 25
Map: Interdependence of Life ............................................ 27
Recommended Reading ..................................................... 28
Web Sites for Climate Change Resources ........................... 29