NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database

The An Ocean of Oxygen Producers lesson, students investigate effects of shining light on differently colored materials on temperature. They design experiments to test the important role albedo plays in determining how much radiation is absorbed by a substance. They analyze a diagram that illustrates the concept of feedback loops, which magnify changes over time. Enrich/Extend options at the end of the lesson include a simple version of one experiment students can conduct and ways they can take action to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

You and your fellow players are the leaders - citizens, policymakers, business leaders, etc. - of a coastal city. You are excited to make the city a better place, but you also face many challenges. One of these is climate change. One impact of climate change is rising sea level, which puts your city at risk of flooding and saltwater getting into your soil and freshwater supply. Other effects of climate change include more severe hurricanes, more heat waves, and heavier rainfall. Your job is to make smart decisions that will increase the city’s resilience. The problem? You do not know exactly what impacts climate change will have on your city, how severe they will be, or when they will occur.

Coastal ecosystems are some of the most threatened in the world. Research has shown that coastal ecosystems provide incredibly valuable climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits, and many important societal benefits. This presentation discusses the value of coastal wetlands as carbon sinks, their value in providing wave attenuation, erosion risk reduction, and resilience to flooding, as well as research about the connections between nature exposure on human health. All of these cutting-edge research topics can inform policy and decision-making in coastal areas with the goal of improving environmental and human health.

Ice cores provide remarkably accurate records of climate change. Ice-core records contribute to our understanding that Carbon Dioxide has been “the biggest control knob” of Earth’s overall climate, and if we continue releasing CO2 into the atmosphere, we will have large impacts on climate. Ice-core records also show how changes in ocean circulation have had large, rapid regional impacts. The existence of abrupt climate changes contribute to our understanding that climate changes are likely to be more-damaging than expected rather than less-damaging. Fortunately, additional scholarship shows that we have the means to address these problems and be better off in the future.

NOAA has developed a national energy simulator to determine the role that different energy sources could play in coming decades. The energy simulator uses coal, nuclear, wind, solar, etc., over the continental US, and includes a potential national High-Voltage-Direct-Current transmission network, allowing power to be shared over the domain. The simulator identifies cost-minimized geographic configurations that could continuously and reliably supply electricity over all parts of the country. This simulation shows that there is a potential path to transforming the global energy system to much lower carbon emissions by the 2030s without major economic harm.

Coral reefs are beautiful and complex ecosystems that support at least a quarter of all marine species. As ocean temperatures rise, corals lose the algae that give them their color and their food. Mass coral bleaching is only a 35 year-old problem but it has been increasing in frequency and severity. This issue will be discussed while attempting to leave you hopeful that we have a chance to save coral reefs before they are all gone. In this talk you'll hear about resources that NOAA provides to understand coral ecosystems, the biological systems that support them, how we study them, what's being done to try and save them, and what you can do to help.

Ecosystems are constantly changing. Being able to forecast these changes can provide information about how people and communities may be affected. Local authorities use these forecasts to make decisions to protect the health and well-being of an area, i.e. closing a shellfish bed or increasing monitoring of public drinking water. NOAA forecasts harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, pathogens (naturally-occurring marine bacteria), and species distribution. This presentation highlights these efforts, how these events affect people, health, and the environment, and how incidences of these events are changing over time.

Marine ecosystems provide jobs, food, transportation routes, recreational opportunities, health benefits, climate regulation and cultural heritage that affect communities and economies across the U.S. and internationally. There are strong linkages between our planet’s climate and ocean systems, and solid evidence that changes in the climate system are affecting marine ecosystems. This presentation explores what we know about climate-related impacts on marine ecosystems and the people that depend on them including what’s being impacted, what’s at risk, and what might be done to reduce risks and adapt to the changing ocean.

NOAA Fisheries is responsible for stewardship of the nation’s ocean resources. These include fisheries species, protected species, and habitats. Climate change and variability have affected marine resources in the past and will continue to affect these resources into the future. This presentation discusses the tools and approaches NOAA Fisheries is pursuing to help the management of marine resources adapt to climate change.

Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science presents information that is deemed important for individuals and communities to know and understand about Earth’s climate, impacts of climate change, and approaches to adaptation or mitigation. Principles in the guide can serve as discussion starters or launching points for scientific inquiry. The guide aims to promote greater climate science literacy by providing this educational framework of principles and concepts. The guide can also serve educators who teach climate science as a way to meet content standards in their science curricula.