Spurred by increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, forests over the last two decades have become dramatically more efficient in how they use water. Scientists affiliated with the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site report the results in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

See the following articles:

Tide gauge data confirm that on April 11 and June 14, two tsunami hit the east coast of the United States. Learn more from:

Ice, which covers 10 percent of Earth's surface, is disappearing rapidly.  NASA has created a multimedia resource to show how climate change has affected glaciers, sea ice, and continental ice sheets worldwide.  At the Global Ice Viewer (https://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/global-ice-viewer/#/), visitors can choose to watch video clips from the topics of glaciers, Greenland, Arctic, and Antarctica.

From PBS-NOVA:  Earth From Space is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. Produced in extensive consultation with NASA scientists, NOVA takes data from earth-observing satellites and transforms it into dazzling visual sequences, each one exposing the intricate and surprising web of forces that sustains life on earth.

The National Science Foundation has been publishing a series of articles as part of the SEES (Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability) investment.  Each article is written for a general audience and is supported with images.

Can Marcellus Shale Gas Development and Healthy Waterways Sustainably Coexist?

Young bivalves such as oysters, coral reefs, and other organisms that rely on calcite or aragonite to grow their shells and structures are fighting a battle with ocean acidification. We provide links to several recent articles on the issue, which would serve as an excellent topic for a classroom discussion or writing exercise.

Background Article: Larvae, Climate and Calcification

Only five days in to hurricane season, and the first named storm is upon us.  Stay on top of the news about Tropical Storm Andrea from sources such as:

• The Weather Channel, Hurricane Tracker
• National Hurricane Center, Tropical Storm Andrea

Some general hurricane links include: