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Chapter 6 – Climate, Terrestrial Biodiversity, and Aquatic Biodiversity / Text & Media Applications Grid
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National Weather Service
Home page of the United States agency
charged with protecting us from the weather. Their site provides current weather information, climate statistics and historical data,
climate forecasts, and links to information
on a variety of weather-related topics.
Atlantic rhythms: El Nino's Atlantic partner may
share the blame for a winter rife with severe weather
John Weier. Weatherwise May-June 2003
v56 i3 p28(8)
Learn about the weather impact of the North Atlantic
Oscillation, El Nino's Atlantic Ocean counterpart.
Hint: NAO
El Niño (1:54), Vol. V
(2002)
NOAA - What Is an El Nino?
An in-depth primer on the El Nino phenomenon. This site includes maps, animations,
and links to other related sites. Begin an
Internet research session on this topic here.
Climate change threatens biodiversity
United Press International Feb 18, 2003
p1008049w1073
Biodiversity hotspots are threatened by climate change.
Hint: biodiversity
CIESIN Ozone Home Page
The Consortium for International Earth
Science Information Network (CIESIN) provides this resource on the facts and issues
surrounding the threat of ozone depletion.
Dead heat: the science is in on global climate
change, and the picture isn't pretty
Tom Athanasiou; Paul Baer. Earth Island Journal
Summer 2003 v18 i2 p26(5)
This article explains the scientific basis of the greenhouse effect.
Hint: greenhouse effect
Section
Web Links in Hypercontents
6-1
How's the Weather? Digital models of climate
change are the tools that keep Canada's
scientists at the forefront of a vital--and
sometimes scary--field
Chris Turner. Time International Nov 18, 2002
v160 i19 p78+
Time profiles the latest weather forecasting technology.
Hint: weather models
6-2
Biomes
Indepth treatment of the world’s biomes,
from a course at the University of Puget
Sound.
Sierra Club Critical Ecoregions Program
The Sierra Club has put together a series of
regional plans to address specific environmental needs in each biome and area of
the United States.
The World’s Biomes:
A very good introduction to biomes, from
Susan Woodward at Radford University.
Ozone-Eating Gases Can Affect Weather,
Researchers Find.
Knight Ridder/ Tribune Business News Service
Oct 10, 2003 pITEM03283009
What happens in the stratosphere can affect weather
in the troposphere.
Too much of a good thing?
Environment Sept 2003 v45 i7 p7(1)
The good news is that hydrogen fuel cell cars won't
use gasoline. The bad news is they may contribute
to depleting the ozone layer.
Hint: hydrogen cars
After 30 years, ozone is recovering; A report
shows the rate of ozone destruction declining for
the first time since CFCs were banned.
Christian Science Monitor August 1, 2003 p01
Is the ozone hole recovering?
Hint: ozone hole
Clothes may not be enough to block sun's strong
rays. Connie Prater.
Knight Ridder/ Tribune News Service
July 23, 2003 pK2954
What's your outfit's SPF?
Hint: clothes ozone
6-3
Desert Ecosystems
This Environmental Literacy Council page
provides accessible information on desert
environments and links to other helpful
sites.
Deserts USA
This online magazine includes loads of
information about the desert ecosystems of
the United States.
A tortoise's tentative future: habitat degradation,
vandalism, and predation are contributing to
desert tortoises' low numbers in Mojave National
Preserve Jenell Talley.
National Parks March-April 2003 p45(1)
Learn about the desert tortoise and its habitat in this
article.
Hint: desert tortoise
(Continued on next page)
El Niño (3:47), Vol. VI
(2003)
Chapter 6 – Climate, Terrestrial Biodiversity, and Aquatic Biodiversity / Text & Media Applications Grid
Section
6-3
(Continued)
Web Links in Hypercontents
World Resources Institute page on
grasslands
Learn more about grasslands at this World
Resources Institute page.
Tundra and Alpine
At this site you’ll find a description of tundra
and alpine biomes as well as dozens of
links to related sites and organizations.
Rainforest Action Network Information
Center
A beautiful site with loads of information,
including news, explanations of why rainforests are important, and a discussion of
the role of ecotourism in preserving them.
Mountain Ecosystems in Danger Worldwide
This National Geographic News story
describes perils to the world's mountainous
regions.
Gaia Forest Conservation Archives
Everything you ever wanted to know about
endangered forests is here.
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(Continued from previous page)
Desert protection: reality or mirage: it has been
ten years since legislation was passed to protect
millions of acres of California desert. Although
the legislation has helped to protect these lands,
they are increasingly, challenged by two of the
fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country:
Los Angeles and Las Vegas Helen Wagenvord.
National Parks May-June 2003 p26(4)
California deserts are under threat from human
population expansion.
Hint: deserts
Planet's list of protected areas tops 100,000
mark; United Nations outlines over century of
success and failure in conserving world's natural
heritage.
M2 Presswire Sept 10, 2003 pNA
This report on the world's protected ecosystem looks
at the world biome-by-biome.
Hint: biome
Northern Boreal Forests
Click here to learn more about these forests
and to find related links. The same main
Web site has material on temperate deciduous forests, too.
6-4
Sierra Club Rocky Mountains Information
Check out this site for more information on
what’s happening to protect the Rockies.
Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory
Home page of one of the premier marine
biological institutions in the world. This site
contains images, electronic journals, and
links to other related sites. Do not overlook
its impressive marine specimen database. A
good place to begin an Internet research
session.
Deer in Eastern States Put Species of Trees at Risk,
Forest Service Study Says. Knight Ridder/ Tribune
Business News Jan 7, 2003 pITEM03007034
Because deer eat saplings, they are endangering the
survival of trees.
Hint: deer trees
Rainforest saved
Kindred Spirit Spring 2003 p7(1)
A rainforest in Brazil is now the world's largest tropical national park.
Hint: Rainforest
The treasures of the Ozark Plateau
Steve Hensley. Endangered Species Bulletin
Jan-Feb 2003 v28 i1 p32(2)
A new wildlife refuge has been established to preserve a forest biome.
Hint: Ozark forest
6-5
Center for Applied Coastal Research
Home page of the University of Delaware's
coastal research program. A good source of
scientific articles related to this subject.
Biological activity found 1,000 feet below surface
USA Today Magazine June 2003 v131 i2697 p12(1)
The ocean's crust is a biosphere all on its own.
Hint: ecology ocean
Alaska's not-so-permanent frost; With winters
warming eight degrees in three decades,
Alaskans face a strange new landscape.
Christian Science Monitor Oct 7, 2003 p01
The shortening of Alaska's winters will effect its
wildlife, its people, and the oil industry.
Hint: Alaska frost
Fire (in the sky). Keith Kloor.
Audubon Sept 2003 v105 i3 p74(6)
Grasslands are particularly vulnerable to fire, but
they need it to regenerate themselves.
(Continued on next page)
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Chapter 6 – Climate, Terrestrial Biodiversity, and Aquatic Biodiversity / Text & Media Applications Grid
Section
6-5
(Continued)
6-6
Web Links in Hypercontents
Readings from InfoTrac® College Edition
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(Continued from previous page)
Melting ice at the world's rooftop stirs concern;
Arctic ice cap is shrinking 10 percent per
decade, raising worries about global warming.
Christian Science Monitor Oct 30, 2003 p02
Learn more about the tundra biome in this article
about melting polar ice.
Hint: Arctic ice cap
Index on the Health of World's Oceans Released
New Index Details the State of the World's
Oceans - by the Numbers
PR Newswire
June 3, 2003 pPHTU01003062003
This index provides useful statistics on the world's
oceans.
Hint: oceans index
Sediment Kills Reefs
(2:12), Vol. II (1999)
Coral Reef Protection
(2:06), Vol. IV (2001)
Artificial Reefs (2:37),
Vol. V (2002)
Pew Commissions Finds Problems in Nation's
Oceans
Knight Ridder/ Tribune Business News June 5, 2003
pITEM03156020
This article details the results of the Pew Oceans
Commission study.
Hint: Pew Oceans
Scientists Crack Black Box of Coastal Ecosystems
Advanced Technologies Lead to Discoveries Critical
to Restoration, Management of Coastal Oceans.
Ascribe Higher Education News Service
Feb 17, 2003 pNA
New research shows the trouble our coastal
ecosystems are in.
Hint: ecosystems coastal
6-7
A human thirst: humans now appropriate more
than half of all the freshwater in the world. Rising
demands from agriculture, industry, and a growing population have left important habitats
around the world high and dry Don Hinrichsen.
World Watch Jan-Feb 2003 v16 i1 p12(7)
Human consumption of freshwater is threatening
ecosystems.
Hint: freshwater
Forest Cover Critical to Freshwater Supplies,
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Warns.
Ascribe Higher Education News Service
March 5, 2003 pNA
Biome needs biome: freshwater biomes rely on forest cover to survive.
Hint: freshwater
Scientists Urge Barriers against Invasive Species
for Chicago-Area Rivers
Knight/Ridder Tribune Business News May 15, 2003
pITEM03135057
Scientists are suggesting radical remedies for the
nonnative invasion of the Chicago River.
Hint: Chicago rivers
The heat is on: the countdown has begun. The
Alpine glaciers and the permafrost are heating
up rapidly. Weather conditions have been absurd
this summer. What next? Swiss News finds out.
Aradhna Sethi.
Swiss News Sept 2003 i9 p28(2)
The glaciers of the European Alps are melting. What
are the implications?
Hint: Alpine glaciers
Agricultural Runoff
and Water Quality
(2:50), Vol. I (1998)
Chapter 1 – Concepts and Methods in Biology / Text & Media Applications Grid
Section
6-8
Web Links in Hypercontents
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Guardians of the deep: Australia's oceans and
the unique creatures they support are suffering
from increasing human activity and the vagaries
of management by many different governments
Michelle Grady. Habitat Australia Feb 2003 v31 i1 p8(2)
Up to 85 per cent of the marine plants and animals
in Australia's southern seas are found nowhere else
in the world. Being unique, however, makes those
temperate species more vulnerable to extinction.
Hint: Australia oceans
Sustainable use of the Oceans The Futurist MayJune 2003 v37 i3 p15(1)
Improving technology will help ocean scientists collect, analyze, and disseminate information that will
permit more-sustainable fishing and aquaculture, as
well as enhance our understanding of the limits of
ocean life.
Hint: sustainable oceans
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