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By Natural Science

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A podcast about life on Earth during a weird time: now. We visit people who are thinking about the future and figuring out how we will adapt to a changing planet. Hosted by Science Friday alum Flora Lichtman, produced by Freakonomics Radio/The Atlantic alum Katherine Wells.

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‎The Adaptors: He Bought the Water on Apple Podcasts

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‎A podcast about life on Earth during a weird time: now. We visit people who are thinking about the future and figuring out how we will adapt to a changing planet. Hosted by Science Friday alum Flora Lichtman, produced by Freakonomics Radio/The Atlantic alum Katherine Wells.

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Ecochallenge

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See the Oceans challenge in the Earth Day Ecochallenge Event

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Life started in the ocean, and 97% of the planet's water is in oceans. Even though oceans cover 71% of the planet, 95% of the oceans have yet to be explored by humans. Oceans regulate our climate, produce half of the oxygen we breathe, create important ecosystem habitats for marine life, and provide food and sustainable livelihoods for millions of humans.

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For NPR Student Podcast Challenge, Many Students Tackle Climate Change

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For NPR Student Podcast Challenge, Many Students Tackle Climate Change

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By Anya Kemenetz

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

From the sunrise movement in the U.S. to the school strike for climate in 100 countries, teenagers have become the faces of climate activism. We definitely heard from teens when NPR held its first-ever student podcast challenge this spring. Hundreds of the nearly 6,000 entries in the nationwide podcast contest dealt with climate change and related environmental issues. Anya Kamenetz of the NPR education team has more.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING))

LEAH GLASPEY: Maybe you guys have heard of the climate crisis sweeping the globe today. If not...

ANYA KAMENETZ, BYLINE: Leah Glaspey, a seventh grader at Irving A. Robbins Middle School in Farmington, Conn., has a podcast for you.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CARA SZCZEPANSKI: I'm Cara Szczepanski.

LEAH: And I'm Leah Glaspey. And...

KAMENETZ: Their teacher, Alysson Olsen, says the girls started their podcast journey by thinking of climate change as a debate. But as they got deeper into their research, their focus shifted to the gaps in their own education, and they got upset.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LEAH: Climate change shouldn't be censored from the ears of children.

KAMENETZ: As they tell their classmates...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LEAH: We were given an edited piece of the truth.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KAMENETZ: Szczepanski ended their podcast with a passionate plea for change.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CARA: I mean, this is scary, and we understand that. But people have to realize that climate change is real. And it may be scary, but we are the ones that need to fix it.

KAMENETZ: The title of their entry - "A Missed Opportunity: The Inconvenient Truth About Climate Change In Public Schools." Across the country at Highline High School in Burien, Wash., junior Kat Quach zoomed in on a different aspect of the climate change problem.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KAT QUATCH: In this podcast, we're going to be talking about being vegan.

KAMENETZ: Quach chalked up the climate benefits of a vegan diet, which can be an uphill battle given American fast food culture.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KAT: Taco Bell even serves a taco with fried chicken as a tortilla. We wrap our meat in other meats. Who decided that we ever needed that much meat?

KAMENETZ: Lily Duong is another junior at Highline whose podcast considered the relationship between food and the environment. She brought her microphone to her family's Vietnamese restaurant, where she says...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LILY DUONG: At the restaurant, we don't compost. And often, many things we buy, like rice noodles, come in plastic packaging or is imported from other countries.

KAMENETZ: She interviewed her mother in the restaurant's kitchen about the practical barriers to becoming more sustainable. And, as we often do at NPR, she interpreted for her mother from Vietnamese.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DUONG: Why don't we switch to biodegradable to-go containers?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking through interpreter) It's not required by law. And it's a little bit more expensive.

KAMENETZ: Speaking of sustainability, the seventh graders at Goshen Middle School in Goshen, Ind., produced several entries exploring the Green New Deal. These boys put the issue in terms of their dream cars.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I want the Tesla Model X because it will help the environment, and it looks pretty cool.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Well, I want a Tesla Roadster because it is an electric car, so that means it does not put out carbon emissions.

KAMENETZ: Students around the country told us they aren't just researching the topic of climate change. They're also taking action themselves.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ZOE: Hey. So my name is Zoe, and this is David.

KAMENETZ: These fifth graders in Maryland Elementary in Bexley, Ohio, started a project called SOS for Save Our Seas. It's aimed at cutting back on plastic and increasing recycling in their lunchroom.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ZOE: Sandro, what do you know about recycling?

SANDRO: Well, recycling helps the community and the whole earth by reusing plastic that we don't need and we can make into something helpful.

KAMENETZ: They announced their plan at a school assembly.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: And (unintelligible).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Who remembers what's SOS stand for?

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Unintelligible).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Save Our Seas. Great job. Let's give them a warm round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

KAMENETZ: And a round of applause to everyone who entered our student podcast challenge.

Anya Kamenetz, NPR News.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.

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For NPR Student Podcast Challenge, Many Students Tackle Climate Change

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: From the sunrise movement in the U.S. to the school strike for climate in 100 countries, teenagers have become the faces of climate activism. We definitely heard from teens when NPR held its first-ever student podcast challenge this spring.

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By Kellie Seas

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BBC | 2017

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How do ocean currents work? - Jennifer Verduin

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Rise: Climate Change and Costly Communities

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Rise: Climate Change and Costly Communities

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The Podcast Series Selections from the RISE radio series are available as six 20-minute podcasts. Share with your students, friends and colleagues. Stream and download here or subscribe using your podcatcher of choice: If you are in San Francisco, listen while on a ferry boat ride or wandering down the Embarcardero or Pier 39.

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Help us remove 30 million pounds of trash by January 1st, 2022 - Join #TeamSeas

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How it Works

#TeamSeas will be one of the biggest, baddest, most-impactful cleanup projects of all time-and here's how we're doing it. Scroll on to see our cutting-edge river Interceptors, info on locally-organized cleanups, ghost-gear removal efforts and professional expeditions to areas where we can have the greatest conservation impact!

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Help us remove 30 million pounds of trash by January 1st, 2022 - Join #TeamSeas

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One dollar is one less pound of trash in the ocean.

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By Nasa Climate Kids

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Climate Kids is produced by the Earth Science Communications Team at

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Climate Change: A Triple Threat for the Ocean

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Climate Change: A Triple Threat for the Ocean

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Monterey Bay Aquarium | 2019

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By Bren Smith

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Earth Alliance (@earthalliance) on Instagram

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#EarthAlliance addresses urgent threats to our planet’s life support systems.

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Amazon

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Intergovernmental Panel of Change.

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Scientists Are Breeding Super Coral That Can Survive Climate Change

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Oceans are a global force of nature that form the foundation of the blue planet on which we live. They cover 71% of our planet's surface and make up 95% of all the space available to life. They are a life-support system for Earth and a global commons that provide us with free goods and services, from the food we eat to the oxygen we breathe.

The oceans also regulate the global climate; they mediate temperature and drive the weather, determining rainfall, droughts, and floods. They are also the world's largest store of carbon, where an estimated 83% of the global carbon cycle is circulated through marine waters.

But the interaction between these two natural forces is altering, and the exchange is intensifying. We're seeing the consequences of this around the world. In the last 200 years, the oceans have absorbed a third of the CO2 produced by human activities and 90% of the extra heat trapped by the rising concentration of greenhouse gases.

As the climate responds to decades of increasing carbon emissions, the store of energy and heat from the atmosphere builds up in the ocean. If we reach a tipping point, we will likely see more extreme weather events, changing ocean currents, rising sea levels and temperatures, and melting of sea ice and ice sheets-all of which aggravate the negative impacts of overfishing, illegal fishing, pollution, and habitat degradation.

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Exploring how climate change relates to oceans

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The interaction between climate and oceans is altering, and the exchange is intensifying. As the climate responds to decades of increasing carbon emissions, the store of energy and heat from the atmosphere builds up in the ocean.

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Watch the full film here:

https://bluethefilm.org/watch

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Blue is a powerful film about our oceans. It charts the challenges we face and the opportunities for positive change. Filmed in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the South Pacific and the United States, this stunning cinematic documentary comes at a time when we are making critical decisions that will decide the legacy we leave for generations to come.

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5 Ways That Climate Change Affects The Ocean

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5 Ways That Climate Change Affects The Ocean

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By Jessica Pink

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5 ways that climate change affects the ocean

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Conservation News examines some of the ways that climate change affects life in the oceans — and what that means for humanity.

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National Geographic

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NASA | The Ocean: A Driving Force for Weather and Climate

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5 Ways Climate Change is Affecting our Oceans

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5 Ways Climate Change is Affecting our Oceans

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By Rod Fujita

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Climate change is taking a toll on forests, farms, freshwater sources and the economy - but ocean ecosystems remain the epicenter of global warming.

Even with their vast capacity to absorb heat and carbon dioxide, oceans were 0.17 degrees Celsius (0.3 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer in 2017 than in 2000, and the warming trend appears to be accelerating. More than 90 percent of Earth's warming since 1950 occurred in oceans, so it's easy to see why scientists are concerned.

Here are five ways these ever-warmer temperatures are affecting our oceans:
1. Coral bleaching
As early as 1990, coral reef expert Tom Goreau and I pointed out that mass coral bleaching events observed during the 1980's were probably due to anomalously warm temperatures related to climate change.

It's now evident that many coral reefs, including Australia's Great Barrier Reef, are dying. Mass coral bleaching results in the starvation, shrinkage and death of the corals that support the thousands of species that live on coral reefs.

Coral reefs are particularly sensitive to increases in temperature. And new research shows that oceans are now experiencing longer and more severe " marine heat waves " that could push even more ocean animals and ecosystems to their limits.
2. Fish migration
In addition, many fish species are moving toward the poles in response to ocean warming, disrupting fisheries around the world.

A recent study predicts that the effects of climate change change will force hundreds of ocean fish northward, hitting North American fisheries that depend on Pacific rockfish, Atlantic cod and black sea bass especially hard.
3. Drowning wetlands
Rising sea levels, partly the result of heat absorbed by the ocean, is also "drowning" wetlands. Such areas normally grow vertically fast enough to keep up with higher water levels. But recently, this rise has accelerated to the point where wetlands can no longer keep their blades above water.

Coral reefs and sea grass meadows are also in danger of "drowning" since they can only photosynthesize in relatively shallow water.

Whether wetlands, coral reefs and seagrass meadows can keep up with rising seas will depend on many factors, however, including how healthy they are and how clean the water is.
4. Ocean acidification
Oceans today absorb about one-third of the carbon dioxide humans send into the atmosphere, about 22 million tons a day.

This great service, which has substantially slowed global warming, has been accomplished at great cost: The trend in ocean acidification is about 30 times greater than natural variation, and average surface ocean pH, the standard measure of acidity, has dropped by 0.1 unit.

That's a 25-percent increase in acidity, which is significant.

Higher acidity is damaging many ocean species that use calcium carbonate to form their skeletons and shells. Studies have shown that calcium carbonate formation is disrupted if water becomes too acidic.

Ocean acidification also appears to be affecting whole ecosystems, such as coral reefs, which depend on the formation of calcium carbonate to build reef structure, which in turn provides homes for reef organisms.
5. A disastrous positive feedback loop
Finally, acidification also appears to be reducing the amount of sulfur flowing out of the ocean into the atmosphere. This reduces reflection of solar radiation back into space, resulting in even more warming.

This is the kind of positive feedback loop that could result in run-away climate change - and of course, even more disastrous effects on the ocean.

Oceans are at the brink

For decades, the ocean has been absorbing carbon dioxide dumped into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, faithfully capturing the extra heat that elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels produce.

But even the ocean has limits. We are bumping up against them now, with damaging consequences for the whole world.

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5 ways climate change is affecting our oceans

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Climate change is taking a toll on forests, farms, freshwater sources and the economy, but the ocean ecosystems remain the epicenter of global warming.

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NASA | Earth Science Week: Climate Change & The Global Ocean

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Underwater farms vs. climate change - Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Megan Davis

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Ted-Ed | 2020

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Can the ocean run out of oxygen? - Kate Slabosky

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This Sea Creature Breathes through its Butt

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This Sea Creature Breathes through its Butt

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Ted-ed | 2020

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What's the purpose of an animal as sludge-like as the sea cucumber? You might be surprised: these echinoderms are capable of incredible bodily feats and make extraordinary contributions to their marine environments. From evisceration to anal teeth, Cella Wright explores the wonderful and weird world of sea cucumbers.

To learn more about sea cucumber biology, poop, and ecological value, you can visit this National Geographic page, which includes a video of a sea cucumber excreting its sandy waste.

Sea cucumbers are able to quickly regenerate their tissues after evisceration. This has fascinated scientists for some time. You can read more here to learn about what genes may be responsible for this feat.

Sea cucumbers also have great cultural importance, especially in the culinary realm. In China alone, sea cucumbers have been eaten for some 1,800 years. Back in the 1600s, politician and poet Wu Weiye wrote that, although no one was certain whether they were worms, or fish, or even plants, sea cucumbers could be eaten to promote health. (Indeed, they're a nutritious protein - you can read more about that here.)

Today, Chinese sea cucumber divers risk their lives in order to meet a seemingly insatiable market demand. Over-exploitation of sea cucumbers has become a huge problem across the globe. You can read more here to learn about how sea cukes are harvested in the wild, the role of aquaculture, and the conservation efforts being made.

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This sea creature breathes through its butt - Cella Wright

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Is it a fuzzy sock? An overripe banana? A moldy tube of toothpaste? No! In fact, it's a humble sea cucumber: a brainless, fleshy form surrounding a digestive tract, and bookended by a mouth and an anus. And while it might look odd, its daily toil paves the way for entire ecosystems to thrive.

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National Geographic

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Oceans serve as the planet's largest habitat and also help to regulate the global climate. But why is the ocean salty? And how is climate change impacting the oceans? Find out more about the consequences of climate change on the world's oceans and some potential solutions to these changes.