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94
Sand Dunes on the Loose Due to Climate Change
Host: Jessica Robertson
Tagged: ClimateChange  sand_dunes  Navajo  NativeAmerican  (Back to Main Page)

Climate change is increasing the mobility of sand dunes in the southwest, posing threats to roadways, infrastructure, human health, cultural practices of the Navajo Nation, and much more. Vegetation on dunes serves as stabilizers, but as the climate warms and precipitation decreases, there is less vegetation growth.

USGS scientist Margaret Hiza and intern Leanna Begay discuss their research to understand the dunes' plant diversity and what changes are occurring. 

(8:47) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (8.12 MB) (right-click to save)

89
Can We Move Carbon from the Atmosphere and into Rocks?
Host: Jessica Robertson
Tagged: ClimateChange  CarbonDioxide  carbon  geology  (Back to Main Page)

A new method to assess the Nation's potential for storing carbon dioxide in rocks below the earth's surface could help lessen climate change impacts. The injection and storage of liquid carbon dioxide into subsurface rocks is known as geologic carbon sequestration.

USGS scientist Robert Burruss discusses this new methodology and how it can help mitigate climate change.

(5:44) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (5.25 MB) (right-click to save)

87
Slight Climate Changes May Trigger Abrupt Ecosystem Responses
Host: Jessica Robertson
Tagged:   ClimateChange  plant_life  animals  biology  ecology  (Back to Main Page)

This is the third and final installment of a three-part series on climate change. Slight changes in climate may cause abrupt changes in ecosystems that are not easily reversible. Some of these responses, including insect outbreaks, wildfire, and forest dieback, may adversely affect people as well as ecosystems and their plants and animals. USGS scientist Colleen Charles discusses a new report on the impacts of a warming world on ecosystems.

Previous Episodes: Arctic Heats Up More than Other Places (Ep. 82); How Abrupt Can Climate Change Be? (Ep. 84)

(6:39) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (6.17 MB) (right-click to save)

85
Help Us Keep an Eye on Climate Change
Host: Catherine Puckett
Tagged: ClimateChange  biology  birds  change  environment  farming  fishing  flora  plant_life  wildlife  phenology  (Back to Main Page)

Attention citizen scientists: We need your help watching the way the world changes!

For nature, timing is everything. So how does climate change affect the timing of things like flowers blooming and animals migrating, and why is this so important?

Learn more, and find out how YOU can help us by observing the world around you from USGS scientist Jake Weltzin, Director of the National Phenology Network.

(9:46) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (9.02 MB) (right-click to save)

84
How Abrupt Can Climate Change Be?
Host: Jessica Robertson
Tagged:   ClimateChange  (Back to Main Page)

The United States faces the potential for abrupt climate change in the 21st century that could pose clear risks to society in terms of our ability to adapt.

USGS Associate Program Coordinator for the Office of Global Change John McGeehin discusses a new report on the potential for abrupt climate changes from global warming during this century.

(8:41) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (8.03 MB) (right-click to save)

82
Arctic Heats Up More than Other Places
Host: Jessica Robertson
Tagged: Arctic  ClimateChange  (Back to Main Page)

Temperature change in the Arctic is happening at a greater rate than other places in the Northern Hemisphere, and this is expected to continue in the future. As a result, glacier and ice-sheet melting, sea-ice retreat, coastal erosion and sea level rise can be expected to continue.

USGS scientist Joan Fitzpatrick discusses a new report on past climate variability and change in the Arctic.

(11:15) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (10.38 MB) (right-click to save)

77
Prehistoric Climate Provides Clues to Future Changes
Host: Pat Jellison
Tagged: ClimateChange  geology  pliocene  data  (Back to Main Page)

More accurate predictions of future climate and improved understanding of today’s warming are possible with new data from the first comprehensive reconstruction of an extreme warm period. Past warm periods provide real data on climate change and are natural laboratories for understanding the global climate system.

USGS scientists Harry Dowsett and Marci Robinson discuss this research and implications.

(7:08) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (6.62 MB) (right-click to save)

68
Farming Carbon to Help the Atmosphere and the Land
Host: James Nickles
Tagged: carbon  CO2    California  ClimateChange  farming  subsidence    water  (Back to Main Page)

Long-standing farming practices in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta expose fragile peat soils to wind, rain and cultivation, emit carbon dioxide (CO2) and cause land subsidence.

To capture or contain the carbon, farmers would "grow" wetlands. In doing so, they would begin to rebuild the Delta's unique peat soils, take CO2 out of the atmosphere, ease pressure on the Delta's aging levees, and infuse the region with new economic potential.

We learn more from USGS bio-geochemist Robin Miller about how this could help California, the nation, and the world.

(8:34) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (7.92 MB) (right-click to save)

61
Tribal Canoe Journey for Troubled Sea: Part 2
Host: Jennifer LaVista | Videographer: Don Becker
Tagged: CoastSalish  NativeAmerican  WaterMonitoring  biology  education  ecology  contaminants  change  environment  fish  fishing  flows  modeling  toxics  urbanization  usgs  video  water  (Back to Main Page)

The USGS and the Coast Salish Tribal Nation have partnered during the annual Tribal Canoe Journey to study and help improve resources of the Salish Sea.

This final episode in the Corecast Tribal Journey gives an overview of the journey, including a look at preliminary results and additional short video clips and commentary as they paddle through the San Juan Islands and British Columbia (in the Transcript section).


Also available in:
YouTube External link | MPG/WMV (152.84 MB) | QuickTime (42.95 MB) | Audio only (6.13 MB)

(6:41) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (42.95 MB) (right-click to save)

34
Drought: the Long, Slow Natural Hazard (Part 2)
Host: David Hebert
Tagged: ClimateChange  drought  hazards  water  (Back to Main Page)

In the second part of our two-part drought mini-series, we head down South to talk with USGS scientists Curtis Weaver and Brian McCallum about the drought situation in the Southeastern United States.

We also learn some eye-opening economic implications of drought. (Did you know that it's possibly the most expensive natural hazard to address?)

(18:06) | Transcript/Links | download Download directly (16.65 MB) (right-click to save)

 

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What's a CoreCast?

A CoreCast is an audio or video podcast from the USGS. When you subscribe to CoreCasts, episodes will be automatically downloaded to your computer as soon as they're available.

This Web site is the USGS CoreCast—it’s where you tune in for CoreCasts.

Huh? What's a Podcast?

A podcast is an audio (e.g. mp3) or video file (e.g. mpeg) that can be played on a mobile media player (i.e. Apple iPod™)1 or personal computer.2

So, How Do I Listen/Watch?

You can subscribe to CoreCasts via RSS feed1 (click for details), or you can listen to or watch individual CoreCasts by selecting the play button next to the episode you’re interested in. When you subscribe to CoreCasts, each episode will automatically download to your computer as soon as they become available. Some specific instructions can be found on our Adding a Podcast page.

1 Make sure you have the right software to download CoreCasts from a computer to your mobile media player—this software usually comes with the player.
2 To play CoreCasts on your computer, you will need media player software such as: iTunes, Windows Media Player, or Real Media Player.

Most computers already have media player software installed—check with your computer administrator to see if you’re already set up for CoreCasts!

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Page Last Modified: Monday, March 30, 2009