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This blog is no longer active. Discover how the GLOBE community engaged in all things GLOBE through the archived community blog posts below.

 


 

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  It turns out that we are most likely entering another mild La Niña winter across the globe. This article, “ La Nina Makes a Quiet Return ”, describes how scientists are able to use data on sea surface temperatures from were made by altimeters on the  Jason-2  and  Jason-3  satellites, and show averaged  sea surface height  anomalies. Climatologists are predicting that this La Niña should last through the 2017-2018 winter period in the northern hemisphere, and then should change back to neutral conditions by late spring. Be sure to become a ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE EARTH AS A SYSTEM   News Topics: SCRC RESEARCH   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


Too much water can have devastating consequences when it falls too quickly on Earth's surface. On January 9th, the " Water in Our Environment " webinar will spotlight the experiences of our GLOBE community in Asia and the Pacific.  Earlier this week in the Philippines, tropical cyclone Kai-Tak wrecked havoc on this region as it caused extreme flooding and landslides . On December 4th and 5th, tropical cyclone Ockhi was the strongest cyclone to develop in the Arabian Sea since 2015, and it brought intense rainfall to the western part of India. A recent CNN report stated ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: WATERSHEDS SMAP EL NIÑO GPM   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE DATA INCLUDED GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROLOGY LAND COVER/BIOLOGY SOIL   News Topics: CALENDAR TRAINING   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS   Teacher's Guide: INVESTIGATION AREA DOCUMENTS


Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a hearing entitled " Gravity Never Sleeps: Landslide Risk Across the Country "at the Rayburn House Office Building that was intended to inform our lawmakers and government officials about the impacts of landslides in many parts of the United States. As the topic is related to our guiding investigative question for the ENSO Student Research Campaign - " What impacts does water, above and below ground, have on our environment? ", I thought I would share some of the things that I learned. Jonathan Godt, the Landslide Hazard Programs Coordinator ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE DATA INCLUDED GLOBE PROTOCOLS EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   GLOBE Working Groups: EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROLOGY LAND COVER/BIOLOGY SOIL   News Topics: REGIONS TRAINING VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


Sometimes, actually most of the time, I forget to be grateful for the fact that I have easy access to clean freshwater. When Thanksgiving rolls around each year, I try to step back and consider the many things I have to be thankful for. Day after day I work with the amazing science team behind the Global Precipitation Measurement mission, and I never cease to be completely amazed at how technology has enabled us to monitor our home planet.  During our last ENSO Phase III webinar, we learned about water quality in Europe from several GLOBE scientists, teachers, and students ...


Posted in: Curriculum: LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: WATERSHEDS EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE DATA INCLUDED EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   GLOBE Working Groups: EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM BIOSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROLOGY LAND COVER/BIOLOGY   Primary Audience: SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS


Many of us are so used to having clean freshwater that is easily accessible that we don't often stop to marvel at the fact that we are incredibly fortunate. The majority of our freshwater comes from our water cycle, and precipitation is unevenly distributed across the globe. You can learn more about the importance of clean freshwater resources in this "one-pager" entitled " Precious Freshness ".   During our ENSO Phase III Webinar #3, we will be focusing on water quality in Europe and Eurasia. We will host this webinar at 18:30 UCT, and hope we will have many of you from ...


Posted in: Curriculum: LANGUAGE CULTURE AND ARTS SCIENCE AND MATH STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   Field Campaigns: WATERSHEDS EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: GENERAL SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS EARTH AS A SYSTEM SCIENTIST SKILLS   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: HYDROSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE HYDROLOGY   News Topics: SCRC RESEARCH VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


What are the impacts of extreme events, like Hurricane Harvey, on the water quality? This article from the Smithsonian magazine describes multiple ways in which public health officials are responding to several threats facing residents of Houston and surrounding locations. These threats include the impact of mold, the potential of an increase in vector-borne diseases such as Zika and West Nile virus, and the problems of contaminants left behind in the public water supply.  Have you experienced severe flooding in your region that resulted in problems with water quality?  ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   Field Campaigns: WATERSHEDS EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   News Topics: SCRC RESEARCH


One way to teach students about water quality and/or how scientists go about their work is to share articles with them. Here is a great article entitled " Study Maps Hidden Water Pollution in U.S. Coastal Areas ". This research shows a great example of the use of both NASA satellite data and ground-based data. In this study, the researchers used U.S. topographic data as well as NASA climate models to "identify key inland regions that contribute groundwater and contaminants to the coast. They examined rainfall, evaporation rates and the amount of known surface runoff to ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE DATA INCLUDED EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROLOGY


The journal Scientific American just published a blog about GLOBE. The post, titled " The GLOBE Program: Making the Case for K–12 Citizen Scientists " discusses several aspects of GLOBE, including our contributions and campaigns. As well, it helps explain our mission of providing the resources for students across the world to become citizen scientists. "Contributing to global datasets not only gives students a chance to collect data that scientists can actually use, but allows them to compare their experiences and findings with other students around the world." To read more ...


Posted in: Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) OTHER   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO SURFACE TEMPERATURE   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE GLOBE PROTOCOLS SCIENTIST SKILLS   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


It is pretty neat when you can get two for the price of one- as most teachers can attest to with regard to trying to get everything into their curriculum. Did you know that this year, the FIRST LEGO League's challenge is focused on water. And what could be better, as that water is also the theme of this year's ENSO Student Research Campaign !  The LEGO Challenge Project states: "People use water every day, but they don’t think much about how and why they use water. Whether it’s directly (drinking or washing) or indirectly (manufacturing the products they use or producing food ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS COMPETITIONS   Field Campaigns: WATERSHEDS EL NIÑO GPM   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE GLOBE PROTOCOLS EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE EARTH AS A SYSTEM   News Topics: COMPETITIONS   Primary Audience: STUDENTS TEACHERS


https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3kwd0hHXG--39z2ADxi7-blg11wAx1RUG42GVHgsG12BP6g/viewform?c=0&w=1 Did you know that mosquito-borne diseases are impacted by both the El Nino and the La Nina weather patterns? Tonight during the ENSO Student Research Campaign Webinar #10 (at 8 pm EST) Dr. Assaf Anyamba will share the results of his research on the impact of these different patterns on the onset of Rift Valley fever in parts of Africa. As we know, these changing weather patterns alter the normal climatic conditions for regions around the world. In some places, this results in ...


Posted in: Curriculum: EDUCATION RESEARCH SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Learning Activities: EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Primary Audience: SCIENTISTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


As Earth science has a single uncontrolled object of study, the first rule is to take today’s data today. While ice and sediment cores and fossils can reveal past conditions, the observations that can be made right now cannot be replaced by ones taken later. This goes well with the Native American adage, “You can’t step in the same river twice.” The environment is constantly changing and doing so on a wide range of time and space scales. In a recent video post, Neil deGrasse Tyson said, “One of the great things about science is that it is an entire exercise finding what is true. You ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC) GLOBE LEARNING EXPEDITIONS SCIENCE SYMPOSIA AND FAIRS   Field Campaigns: SMAP EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE GENERAL SCIENCE EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE   Investigation Areas: EARTH AS A SYSTEM   Primary Audience: ALUMNI STUDENTS TEACHERS


Heavy rains, floods and thunderstorms have affected thousands of families in Perú since January 14 th , 2017. Apparently, Peruvians were not prepared to face this strong natural events as well as their later consequences: Overpopulation of mosquitos that spread dengue and other diseases as chikungunya virus, reduction of some important crops (rice, banana, yucca, yellow corn, avocado, cotton, asparagus, sugar cane, mango, grapes, alfalfa and lemon) (El Comercio, 2017 a ) and damages in many public facilities (bridges and roads) and private property (houses) - 100000 victims, 157000 houses ...


Posted in: Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: SMAP EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE   GLOBE Working Groups: SCIENCE WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE


Just when you think that perhaps the weather systems are settling down- our amazing scientific instruments are able to detect a potential change! I never cease to be amazed at what we are able to learn about Earth's systems- both from the ground and from space!  This article from the New York Times just came across my newsfeed- " It's Like it Never Left: Another El Nino May be on the Way ". In the article, it states that " Among the potential effects are wetter conditions across the southern United States, including Southern California; a drier Midwest; and drought in ...


Posted in: Curriculum: EDUCATION RESEARCH SCIENCE AND MATH STEM   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: BACKYARD SCIENCE CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE GLOBE PROTOCOLS EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   GLOBE Working Groups: EDUCATION WORKING GROUP   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   News Topics: VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


One of the important aspects of a scientist's job is to look at the data that was collected and try to make sense of it in order to better understand natural phenomena. With the ENSO Student Research Campaign, we have a unique opportunity to analyze data and use the analysis to help us better understand the impact of the ENSO cycles on weather and climate in locations all around the world.  I was looking at some of the data that many of our wonderful GLOBE teachers have sent during the ENSO campaign, and I noticed that we had data analyses sent to us from different ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM   News Topics: SCRC RESEARCH   Primary Audience: ALUMNI SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS


There will be a special Google hangout for GLOBE teachers and scientists on Feb 15 at 7pm (ET ).  During this event, we will learn about the results of the research from several scientists who were onboard the research vessel, and will have a chance to ask questions about this work and results.   http://bit.ly/2lL4Kgd No registration required- open to any GLOBE teacher and/or scientist! Please share this! GLOBE Educator Webinar - Feb 15, 7pm ET Agenda below: Overview (~45 min program) Learn about an ongoing Earth science expedition with NASA scientists ...


Posted in: Curriculum: SCIENCE AND MATH TECHNOLOGY   Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   GLOBE Science Topics: CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE GENERAL SCIENCE EARTH AS A SYSTEM EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE SCIENTIST SKILLS   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM BIOSPHERE   Learning Activities: ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE EARTH AS A SYSTEM HYDROLOGY   News Topics: SCRC RESEARCH   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


As you know, the ENSO phenomenon affect the entire planet. Check out this great video from the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology. In this video, you will see the extremes that ENSO brings to all corners of Australia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzat16LMtQk Are the affects of ENSO in your country the same or different than in Australia? Try to draw some conclusions based upon your data and other data from around your home country.


Posted in: Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS


Have you missed some of the ENSO Student Research Campaign webinar? Look no further. We have a 1-stop-shop to view the webinars from our current Phase II, and also from Phase I. Please click HERE to view all the past webinars and learn about future ones!


Posted in: Event Topics: CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS (IOPS, ETC)   Field Campaigns: EL NIÑO   Investigation Areas: ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE EARTH AS A SYSTEM PEDOSPHERE (SOIL) BIOSPHERE   Primary Audience: ALUMNI COUNTRY COORDINATORS PARTNERS SCIENTISTS STUDENTS TEACHERS TRAINERS