Technology has made it possible to interlink the world’s observation systems into one “interoperable” Global Earth Observation System of Systems, or GEOSS. This flexible and distributed network of content providers will greatly improve the quantity and quality of the Earth observations needed for addressing the risks of global environmental change.
Climate change, the depletion of natural resources, the emergence of new diseases, and the loss of biological diversity are amongst some of the most serious and complex challenges facing the human race today. Addressing these threats to our common home will require effective national policies plus international collaboration on a grand scale.
The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies’ annual photo contest for U.S. students grades 5-8 offers students a path to expanded knowledge of their surrounding environments.
Accurate prediction of sea level is arguably one of the most important societal goals facing the research community. Combining cutting-edge technologies with sustained observations to understand processes and improve numerical models will be required to address the issue of future ice-sheet changes and impacts on global sea level.
Like a canary in a mineshaft, the Earth’s polar regions display the effects of climate change sooner than other places on Earth. International Polar Years (IPY) are specific time frames chosen to gather diverse data sets to examine these effects.
We are in the midst of one of the most exciting international and interdisciplinary science projects that many of us will encounter in our professional careers – the International Polar Year. Scientists in the natural, social, and health sciences are collaborating on some 228 endorsed projects in both the Arctic and Antarctic during a two-year period (March 2007-March 2009) of intense field observations.
In the summer of 2007, satellite observations showed that the sea ice coverage of the Arctic Ocean declined to a record low areal extent of only 4.14 km2, 23% less than during the previous summer minimum observed in 2005. The shrinkage of the Arctic sea ice cover is generally considered as one of the most striking expressions of the ongoing global climate warming.
Two scientists participating in a live International Polar Day event March 12 provided their insights into what the future may hold and what decision-makers should do to address the issue.
One goal of the International Polar Year is to learn more about the polar regions, but it may not be obvious to most people how we know as much as we do. These areas are remote and harsh, to say nothing of the obvious cold.
Earth process modeling and data visualization tools are critical to understanding the processes associated with climate change. One such set of tools is Geographic Information Systems (GIS).