The World in a Drop of Water

The Real Science Team

This month the Real Science team is focusing on one aspect of how human actions impact our environment, and illustrates the importance of using science and technology to monitor our interaction with our planet in order to help sustain and improve the lives of the world’s inhabitants.

We chose to look at algae because it is one of the tiniest yet most pervasive organisms in the world, with the ability to have a lasting impact on the lives of humans and other species.

As the scientific community continues to build a body of knowledge about our world and its changing features, we also are learning about how we humans impact our environment. One area that many scientists have studied is the phenomenon of sporadic overgrowth of algae, known as algal blooms and how these blooms impact the environment.

What is Peak Oil?

Science is the lifeblood of our civilization. It's what has made the modern world possible. It's why the planet supports six billion people and not several hundred million. It's what has distinguished this modern age. It has tremendous benefits, and that carries with it tremendous responsibilities and risks.
-Wesley K Clark, YearlyKos 2006

The climate change series has so far dealt with issues such as: What is climate change? Is man impacting the climate? What are some of the possible consequences of climate change? This post will deal with the question: What needs to be done to prevent catastrophic climate change?

A Few Thoughts after Reading Elizabeth Kolbert’s
Field Notes from a Catastrophe:
Man, Nature, and Climate Change

Global Warming = Climate Crisis (News Roundup I)

This week, while we science geeks take a little more time to work on the next entry (and rest our brain cells a bit), we’re posting a “news roundup” of some of the articles we’ve been reading. We hope that in reading one or more of these,some of you might be encouraged to post some articles that you’ve found too. Below, you’ll find links to the featured articles and a bit of description below each of the links. (We owe a big thanks to the hard-working staff at energybulletin.net from whose website we found several of the articles below.) This news roundup focuses (as our team currently does) on global warming/climate crisis:

"There is very little doubt that the climate is significantly warming: sea levels are rising, and artic and antarctic ice is melting. The question is, "Why?"
It is pretty clear that mankind has had some impact on this. We have looked at the amount of greenhouse gases suspended in the atmosphere. We started measuring these in 1957, the International Geophysical Year. They measured it (atmospheric gases) from the peak of a volcano in Hawaii. And it was around 280-300 ppm (parts per million) of carbon; it is now 375-380 ppm of carbon in the atmosphere. That carbon is the result of combustion activity - burning forests, burning gasoline, diesel, and coal. All the aspects of economic development are based around energy....."

Welcome to CCN's first of a four-part Special "Real Science" Blog Series on global warming.

“Global Warming” is the hottest environmental issue these days. But lots of people are skeptical that it’s even happening, and many of those who believe that it’s real, still doubt that it’s caused by mankind, or that we can do anything about it. It’s certainly fair to ask any number of questions, including, “What’s the evidence for global warming?” “Is it caused by human activity?” “How bad could it be?” “Can anything be done about it?” In our four-part series, we’ll take up each of these questions and do our best to address them. In this first installment, we’ll look at the evidence for global warming.

Announcing...

Today, scientists and the general public are actively working together toward understanding the many complex scientific issues that face our society. Given the United States’ national commitments to, investments in, and prominence within the fields of science and technology, the American public, especially, deserves accurate scientific information.