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GISN & STEM Professional's Blog
The GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN) and STEM Professional's Blog is an online collaborative effort where scientists associated with GLOBE post their thoughts, comments, and philosophies about a variety of science topics.
GLOBE strongly encourages positive and productive discussions to further advance the scientific understanding of all involved with The GLOBE Program.
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Blog originally posted on The GLOBE Scientists' Blog: http://blog.globe.gov/sciblog/2012/09/24/xpedition-day-three-forest-camp-to-shira-1-camp/
Today the team heads from 2,438 m to 3,505 m above sea level. This portion of the journey will take the team from rain forest to heath zone. A rain forest is characterized by high rainfall, with annual totals ranging from 1750-2000 mm (68-78 in). A heath zone is above the forest line, where porous soils and lower rainfall result in sparser vegetation.
Leaving the rain forest heading to the heath zone ...
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Blog originally posted on The GLOBE Scientists' Blog: http://blog.globe.gov/sciblog/2012/09/23/xpedition-day-two-basecamp-to-forest-camp/
Packed and ready for the journey
Today, Sunday, 23 September, the team packs up the vehicles and heads off on their journey. Their itinerary for the day includes a few hours’ drive from basecamp followed by a 3 hour hike to Forest Camp, located at 2,438 m above sea level.
Taking a quick break on the hike
The bloggers were asked the following question as they set off on their ...
Blog originally posted on the GLOBE Scientists' Blog: http://blog.globe.gov/sciblog/2012/09/19/students-teachers-and-scientists-explore-mt-kilimanjaro-through-globe-protocols-and-blogs/
Beginning on 23 September, five GLOBE students, teachers and scientists and one GLOBE alum will join commence on a journey through the biomes of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Known as, “the Xpedidion,” the 2012 trek marks the fifth year of this exciting journey. This year will be bigger than ever as a documentary film crew will join us. In addition, we will be sharing images via ...
Posted in:
Field Campaigns:
SEASONS AND BIOMES
GLOBE Science Topics:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
This post is the second in a series called “Trees in Trouble”. To see the first post in this series click here .
Climate impacts so many things on this planet, most notably the types of flora and fauna that live in a specific region. And for those creatures that have annual cycles tied to the local climate, such as the hibernation of bears, migration of birds, and life cycles of insects, a change in climate can shift their way of life and even have subsequent consequences on the environment they live in.
Take the pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) for ...
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 ...
Posted in:
GLOBE Science Topics:
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
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) ...
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 ...
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 ...
Posted in:
GLOBE Science Topics:
CLIMATE CHANGE
BACKYARD SCIENCE
CLIMATE
Investigation Areas:
EARTH AS A SYSTEM
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 ...
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 ...
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: ...
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: ...
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 ...
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: ...
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: ...
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 ...
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 ...
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