Climate Change Research in Geobase and GeoRef

Thursday, March 31, 2016

For years, scientists have used mineral, sediment and ice layers, deposited intermittently throughout geologic time, to track the global climate record. These can come from caves, lakes, the oceans and ice sheets. But over the course of the last decade a new method has been developed that presents an opportunity for geoscientists to assess global climate history in almost any arid landscape.

EARTH: Reading the Ridges - Are Climate and the Seafloor Connected?

EARTH Magazine plunges into the depths of the ocean with scientists seeking whether Earth's climate and sea-level history are intrinsically linked with tectonics at mid-ocean ridges.

EARTH: Crippling Heat Stress Projected by Midcentury in Densely Populated Regions

This issue, EARTH Magazine explores the world's top weather-related killer: exposure to extreme heat. Humans' response to extreme heat leads to heat stress, an illness related to the body's inability to cool itself. Humidity plays a crucial role, because as humidity increases, the ability of sweat to evaporate and cool the body decreases.

How is ocean acidification affecting sea life?

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory: What Is Ocean Acidification? and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Acidification Program: Biological Response:

What is ocean acidification?

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Facts:

"Ocean acidification refers to a reduction in the pH of the ocean over an extended period of time, caused primarily by uptake of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere.

Interactive map of carbon dioxide storage potential in the United States

The results of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geologic CO₂ Storage Assessment (2013) are available in interactive map form. Detailed information is available on published and unpublished storage assessments for 36 sedimentary basins. Each basin can be clicked on for more information, including:

Ocean Acidification Impacts on Fisheries

Friday, March 11, 2016

Background: As the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased over recent history, so has the acidity of oceans worldwide. The changing acidity of the ocean has many ecological and economic impacts, one of the most serious being its effects on marine life and fisheries. The impact of ocean acidification is intensified in colder bodies of water such as those off the coast of New England, a region with a large fisheries sector. These impacts have already been recognized on both coasts, with the Washington, Maine, and Maryland state legislatures commissioning reports on ocean acidification and marine life/fisheries. In 2015, the Massachusetts Legislature also introduced a bill to establish a taskforce to investigate the impact of increasingly acidic waters off the coast of Massachusetts on commercially harvested or grown marine species.

Our speakers include:

Bärbel Hönisch, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory/Columbia University | Slides Video
Jon Hare, NOAA Fisheries Narragansett | Slides Video
Hauke Kite-Powell, Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | Slides Video

Webinar Co-Sponsors:

Consortium for Ocean Leadership, NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, Northeast Coastal Acidification Network

CEU Credits

To earn CEU credits, please complete the associated on-demand GOLI course that was developed from this webinar with a grade of 70% or higher and then submit your application for CEUs. CEUs are awarded from the American Institute of Professional Geologists. To view the full list of on-demand GOLI courses, please browse the GOLI course catalog.

Resources to learn more:

View this webinar's Question & Answer session
Ecosystem Status Report for the Northeast Large Marine Ecosystem, NOAA Fisheries Science Center
NOAA’s Climate Change Web Portal
NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OSF-3: Methodology for Assessing the Vulnerability of Marine Fish and Shellfish Species to a Changing Climate
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Fisheries Global Seafood Production Data Set
List of additional peer-reviewed journal publications mentioned in the webinar presentations (download pdf)
National Research Council, 2010, Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean

Search the Geological Surveys Database for reports and factsheets about ocean acidification.

Ocean Acidification Impacts on Fisheries: The geological record of ocean acidification

How does El Niño affect my area?

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

"El Niño can have a wide variety of effects including lowering or raising temperatures, increasing or decreasing precipitation, extending or reducing drought conditions, enhancing or lowering risk for tropical cyclones, and increasing the potential for coral bleaching.

What is the difference between weather and climate?

A simple answer to this question is “climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.”^[1]

American Geosciences Institute

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