Community Blogs

Community Blogs
 

Included below is a feed of the latest blog posts created by the GLOBE Community. To view a tutorial on how you can create a blog click here 

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Many of the world’s glaciers, such as the Exit Glacier in Alaska, United States and Pasterze Glacier in Austria, have lost mass due to melting over the past few years. One such glacier, Exploradores in southern Chile, is also disappearing.  This glacier is a sight to behold – a 20 kilometer frozen mass that is filled with cliffs of luminescent blue and indigo ice. A view from inside the Exploradores Glacier, from Nature A view from inside the Exploradores Glacier, from Nature The Exploradores Glacier is one of many glaciers in the Patagonian Ice Fields located in the...

Read More About Melting Glaciers in Chile – washing away valuable data »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Climate Climate Change

Just over four years after my first visit to Australia (From drought to flood down under: Part I), the tides have turned and the country has gone from experiencing the driest decade on record to having the wettest two-year period on record in 2010-2011.  These recent rains have been both a blessing and a curse.  The good news is that they helped the region of southeastern Australia start to recover from the long drought (see Figure 1).  The bad news is that the rains came on heavy and strong.  In January 2011, devastating floods occurred across southeastern Queensland,...

Read More About From drought to flood down under: Part II--When it rains, it pours »

Posted in: Field Campaigns: SCRC GLOBE Science Topics: General Science Climate

A fun and easy way to be involved in the Student Climate Research Campaign (SCRC) is by participating in the Climate and Land Cover (CLC) Intensive Observing Period (IOP).  This quarterly IOP focuses on documenting and uploading land cover data into the GLOBE database.  Scientists are then able to use these data to validate land cover in climate models.  Knowing the right type of land cover is important to climate models, because it plays a role in both the energy and hydrologic cycles.  For example, land cover plays an important role in how much solar energy is...

Read More About Do's and Don'ts - The Climate and Land Cover Intensive Observing Period »

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All over the United States, spring flowers such as daffodils and crocuses began blooming nearly a month ago due to an unseasonably warm winter.  Some of my friends from many parts of the country have been mentioning how beautiful their gardens are and enjoying the warm weather.  Even my family and friends from the Mid-Atlantic region have been sending photos showing off their beautiful home gardens. Daffodils in bloom in late February Many think it’s really nice to see green grass, budding trees, and flowers in bloom in late February, as it’s a spirit lift after a...

Read More About Mild winters and early springs - trend or rarity? »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Backyard Science Climate Earth System Science

One important part in the scientific inquiry process that often gets overlooked is the step to communicate and share your research findings.  There are many ways that scientists share their research with each other and the community, including writing reports and publications, presenting research at conferences and meetings, and sharing their science with the community via the media.  The Internet age provides a number of great new ways for us to share science information, such as with blogs, online discussion forums, webinars, and by sharing videos. To encourage everyone to...

Read More About Earth Day Video Competition – A look at GLOBE Student Exporations! »

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In December 2007, I arrived in Australia for the first time ever.  It was a critically dry period for the region, as they were in the midst of a terrible drought.  Immediately upon my arrival, there were signals of a community in dire straits.  Instead of advertisements for products and services, the signs in the airport were encouraging water conservation.  My hotel bathroom had a message affixed to the mirror asking me to limit my shower time and water usage.  The dams were drying up and many communities faced running out of water in just mere months.  As a...

Read More About From drought to flood down under: Part I--The need for rain »

Posted in: Field Campaigns: SCRC GLOBE Science Topics: General Science Climate
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By Ron Zwerin (inactive), posted 2/22/12 3:14 PM

Welcome to my blog .... I look forward to writing in this space about things that are relevant to GLOBE Communications. I'll share what the Program is doing and show you how to get involved in the action.  

Read More About Ron Zwerin's Blog »

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This week we have a guest blogger, Dr. Dixon Butler. Dr. Butler was the GLOBE Chief Scientist from 1996-2003 and now works as a consultant to NASA. Students working on GLOBE Hydrology Protocols The general explanation of the scientific method focuses on comparing two situations that differ in only one clearly defined way. One case serves as the control while the other is the experiment. The results must be replicable as a check that the measurements were made correctly and that any other differences between the control and experiment are insignificant. This is an ideal, but it is...

Read More About The Scientific Method and GLOBE »

Posted in: Curriculum: Science and Math Field Campaigns: SCRC GLOBE Science Topics: General Science

Since the end of January 2012, Europe has been experiencing record-breaking cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls.  Temperatures are dropping to -40°C (-40°F) and below in Europe.  The canals of Venice are freezing over (the first time since 1991) and sections of the Black Sea have frozen (the first time since 1977).  And, Rome has received its first substantial snowfall since 1986. A small boat cuts through the ice along a canal in Venice. Photo by Marco Sabadin/AFP/Getty Images The frozen Black Sea in Ukraine (Reuters photo) So, why is it so cold...

Read More About Frosty and Frozen: Europe’s Frigid Winter »

Posted in: Field Campaigns: SCRC GLOBE Science Topics: Climate Change Climate Investigation Areas: Atmosphere

Communities in the Sahel region of Africa depend on trees for firewood, food, building materials, and even medicine.  Anecdotal observations in this savannah climate, a transition region to the south of the Sahara Desert, have suggested the number of trees is decreasing.  A recent study by a group of researchers at the University of California at Berkeley has provided scientific support indicating that trees are indeed dying and the decline is being attributed to climate change.  Scientists looked at aerial photos dating back to 1954, satellite images, climate change...

Read More About Trees are in Trouble: Climate Change and Dying Trees »

Posted in: Field Campaigns: SCRC GLOBE Science Topics: Climate Change GLOBE Protocols
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By Sarah Tessendorf, posted 2/1/12 2:36 PM

If you’ve seen the science news headlines in the past few weeks, you may have noticed stories summarizing how 2011 ranked in climate history.  What is interesting is that the headlines have been a bit contradictory.  For example, if you’ve read the story as reported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the headline reads “NASA finds 2011 ninth-warmest year on record”, which to me implies it was another record hot year given that it made the top ten list.  Nonetheless, another story reported in ABS news touts that the world wasn’t quite as...

Read More About Was 2011 really hot or not? »

Posted in: Field Campaigns: SCRC GLOBE Science Topics: General Science Climate

From January 22 to 26, 2012, scientists from around the world gathered for the American Meteorological Society annual meeting, which was held in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Scientists from the GLOBE Program stayed next to the beautiful Mississippi River. The Mississippi River in New Orleans (photo courtesy of Dr. Donna Charlevoix) The Mississippi River is the lifeblood of New Orleans and has so impacted the city that the city was actually developed around it. The first buildings were constructed around the river edge, which has the highest ground, and now gives the city a...

Read More About The Mississippi River and Aquatic Dead Zones »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Earth System Science GLOBE Protocols Investigation Areas: Hydrosphere Primary Audience: Students

Last week’s GLOBE Scientists’ blog, “Peculiar weather – just because it sounds odd doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!” talked about inquiry-based learning.  If you have a great question and decide to investigate further, how can you share your results?  Sharing results is an essential part of the scientific method.   If scientists didn’t share their work, how would we know what has already been done?  Or what is already known?  One of the best options for young scientists to share results is to participate in a science fair.  Science fairs often occur in the...

Read More About Sharing What You Have Learned - Science Fairs »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: General Science

I have always been passionate about the weather.  When I realized that to fulfill this passion I had to have a career in atmospheric science, I started acquiring all sorts of books, charts, movies, and other weather related things.  One of those books was a book from the early 1990’s called It’s Raining Frogs and Fishes by Jerry Dennis.  It was really interesting to me because it discussed all of the different seasons and some different phenomena that different parts of the world experience during the seasons.  As I continue to blog for The GLOBE Program, my mind keeps...

Read More About Peculiar weather - just because it sounds odd doesn't mean it didn't happen! »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Backyard Science General Science

When you think about farms, you may think of the sounds you hear.  Those sounds may include both natural and manmade sounds, such as the rustling of produce in the wind or machines working the fields.  While these are expected sounds that can indicate farm health, scientists recently have been looking at another natural sound: songbirds. Farmers are becoming more interested in looking at the key connections between ecological, economic, and social components to managing their farms, according to Quest science blog.  It is then important to make sure that clear and easy to...

Read More About Songbirds and farm health – what’s the connection? »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Climate Change Backyard Science Climate Investigation Areas: Earth As a System Biosphere » Arctic Bird Migration

Nitrogen is an important molecule that makes up nearly 78 percent of the atmosphere.  Burning fossil fuels and using fertilizers for agriculture are two ways that this number can increase.  But the atmosphere isn’t the only place that nitrogen is found – it is also found in bodies of water.  Of the nitrogen that is spread in fertilizers, only 25-30 percent is absorbed by plants, so that leaves a lot of nitrogen left to either be absorbed by the atmosphere or into water.  Figure 1 shows the intricacies of the nitrogen cycle, from Physical Geography.net’s Fundamentals...

Read More About Nitrogen in remote lakes – a chance for GLOBE schools to use hydrology protocols »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Climate Change Climate Investigation Areas: Hydrosphere Hydrosphere » Nitrates
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By GLOBE Scientist, posted 12/21/11 6:45 PM

This week, we have a guest post from Dr. Angela Rowe – a post-doc with Colorado State University and the country of Taiwan examining radar data and monsoons.  Dr. Rowe received her undergraduate degree in meteorology from Millersville University, and her Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Colorado State University, focusing on the Asian and North American Monsoons.  This post is timely, as the monsoon was mentioned in many of the state of the climate of 2010 discussions for different GLOBE regions. When most people hear the word “monsoon”, thoughts of abrupt, intense rainfall...

Read More About What exactly is the monsoon? »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: General Science

In December 2009, Dr. Donna Charlevoix, of the GLOBE Program Office, attended the COP-15 (15th meeting of the Conference of Parties) meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Dr. Charlevoix gave a great summary of the meetings in five separate blog posts that began on 7 December 2009.  Some of you may have read these posts, and for those of you who haven’t, I encourage you to visit them, beginning with the first to get a better understanding of the importance of these annual meetings. This year’s meeting was titled COP-17 (17th Conference of Parties).  The meeting is...

Read More About Global Climate Change – New Deal Met in Durban, South Africa »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: General Science Primary Audience: Scientists

Sometimes in a rapidly changing world, it is difficult to see the effects that small changes in human lifestyle can have on not only climate, but on ecosystems.  Various countries and international organizations are working to pass legislation to ensure change.  One such case of legislation working is being observed in the San Francisco Bay – the return of harbor porpoises.  This was recently reported in the QUEST biology blog. The map below shows the location of the San Francisco Bay, marked by the bubble with an A, from Google.  In 1972, the Clean...

Read More About Porpoises in the San Francisco Bay – an example of how a small change can have big results! »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: General Science Backyard Science GLOBE Protocols Investigation Areas: Hydrosphere

A few weeks ago, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) wrote about a report claiming that some of the fruit from native trees in Britain are ripening anywhere from 13 to 18 days earlier than they did a decade ago.  The report was from Nature’s Calendar, a data collection network in the United Kingdom.  While the cause isn’t specifically known, many believe it’s due to a change in climate. What does a change like this mean to the earth as a system? Scientists are interested in studying the connections between the different Earth processes – from how greenhouse gases are...

Read More About New report from the UK: Tree fruit ripening earlier. What does this mean and how does it tie to GLOBE? »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Earth as a System Backyard Science Climate Change GLOBE Protocols
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By GLOBE Scientist, posted 11/22/11 12:00 AM

2011 has been an interesting year in regards to rainfall for the GLOBE country of Thailand, as both the north and south portions of the country have seen significant flooding.  Let’s take a look at Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, which is located in the north, as well as Phuket, which is located in the south.  Here’s a map of the country for those who aren’t familiar with Thailand, with the cities of interest indicated by the red dots: Map of Thailand from Google   First, we’ll begin by examining the major flooding that occurred...

Read More About Thai flooding »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Backyard Science

This week we’ll finish our look at the climate summaries for each GLOBE region with a focus on the Near East-North Africa region.  Remember that these annual reports provide a summary of the global climatic conditions and are a great benchmark for monitoring climate. Regional reports provide a tremendous amount of information. The temperature and precipitation climate summaries are highlighted here, but if you are interested, more information about the Near East-North Africa region state of the climate is available from this website:...

Read More About NOAA – State of the Climate: A look at Near East-North Africa »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Climate Change Climate Earth System Science

This week we’ll continue our look at the climate summaries for each GLOBE region, with a focus on the North America region.  These annual reports provide a summary of the global climatic conditions and are a great benchmark for monitoring climate. Regional reports provide a tremendous amount of information. The temperature and precipitation climate summaries are highlighted here, but if you are interested, more information about the North America Region state of the climate is available from this website:...

Read More About NOAA – State of the Climate: A look at North America »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: General Science Climate Change Climate Earth System Science

This week we’ll continue our look at the climate summaries for each GLOBE region, with a focus on the Latin America-Caribbean region.  Remember that these annual reports provide a summary of the global climatic conditions and are a great benchmark for monitoring climate. You can use this data in your own GLOBE climate research projects! Regional reports provide a tremendous amount of information including temperature, precipitation, tropical cyclone activity, and notable events. Temperature and precipitation climate summaries are highlighted here; more information about the Latin...

Read More About NOAA – State of the Climate: A look at Latin America-Caribbean »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: General Science Climate Change Climate Earth System Science

This week we’ll continue our look at the climate summaries for each GLOBE region, with a focus on the Europe-Eurasia region.  Recall that these annual reports provide a summary of the global climatic conditions and are a great benchmark for monitoring climate. Regional reports provide a tremendous amount of information. The temperature and precipitation climate summaries are highlighted here, but if you are interested, more information about the Europe-Eurasia Region state of the climate is available from this website:...

Read More About NOAA – State of the Climate: A look at Europe-Eurasia »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Climate Change Climate Earth System Science General Science

This week we’ll continue our look at the climate summaries for each GLOBE region, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region.  Recall that these annual reports provide a summary of the global climatic conditions and are a great benchmark for monitoring climate. Regional reports provide a tremendous amount of information. The temperature and precipitation climate summaries are highlighted here, but if you are interested, more information about the Asia-Pacific Region state of the climate is available from this website:...

Read More About NOAA – State of the Climate: A look at Asia-Pacific »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: General Science Climate Change Climate Earth System Science

In a recent blog post, we shared with you the NOAA State of the Climate report for 2010. These annual reports provide a summary of the global climatic conditions and are a great benchmark for monitoring climate. Along with the global summary, the report summarizes regions. The regions very closely overlap with the GLOBE Regions! We will go through the report and provide a summary for each GLOBE Region. A review of the Regional summaries is a great way for you to see how the climate of your region compared with the regions of other GLOBE Schools. We will start off with Africa. All the...

Read More About NOAA – State of the Climate: A look at Africa »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: General Science Climate Change Climate Earth System Science

Late last week, Pacific Ocean visitors near San Diego, California, USA were able to see an amazing sight that doesn’t happen very often… glowing waves! So what exactly is the process that causes the glowing waves? Algae!  This particular type of algae, Lingulodinium polyedrum, began blooming in late August.  During the day, the waters off the coast of California turn a brownish-red color, according to The University of California – San Diego scientists.  Take a look at what this microorganism looks like under a microscope: Image from The Smithsonian   But while...

Read More About Bio-luminescent San Diego, California! »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: Backyard Science Investigation Areas: Hydrosphere

Recently NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) released the 2010 State of the Climate. The State of the Climate is an annual report that summarizes the climate conditions around the world over the time period of a calendar year. All the reports are available online through the National Climatic Data Center website. [http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams-state-of-the-climate/2010.php] The annual State of the Climate is a record of the conditions around the globe and provides an excellent reference for beginning studies of climate. If you are participating in the GLOBE...

Read More About NOAA – State of the Climate: The importance of data »

Posted in: Field Campaigns: SCRC GLOBE Science Topics: Climate Change Climate Earth System Science

Starting tomorrow, July 1, 2011, the Climate and Land Cover (CLC) Project will commence! This project is a joint research effort between GLOBE schools around the world and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists in the United States. The purpose is to use data collected by students to improve current land cover classifications, which can also improve climate models that need to use land cover data. As a fellow atmospheric scientist once said to me, if you put bad data into your model, you’re going to get bad data out. So an improvement in land cover should help...

Read More About Climate and Land Cover Project – beginning July 1, 2011! »

Posted in: GLOBE Science Topics: General Science
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