Subtopic: Human Influence

Alaska Native Teens Help Researchers
In this video adapted from KUAC-TV and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska Native students contribute to research on how their environment is changing as a result of global warming.

Antarctic Ice: Sea Level Change
What would happen if a portion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet were to melt? This video segment adapted from NOVA uses animations to show the effect of a 6-meter sea-level rise on coastal cities across the world.

Arctic Climate System
Learn how the Arctic is a part of a global climate system in this video segment adapted from the National Film Board of Canada.

Arctic Sea Ice Satellite Observations
In this interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain, learn how Arctic sea ice has changed over the past 25 years in terms of maximum winter extent, concentration, and the timing of breakup each spring.

Changing Arctic Landscape
In this video adapted from the Arctic Athabaskan Council, learn how warmer temperatures in the Arctic are transforming the landscape, triggering a host of effects such as permafrost thawing and insect infestations.

Climate Change Impacts Alaska Glaciers
This video adapted from KTOO takes a look at Earth's warming and cooling cycles and the current atypical trend of warming that is impacting the glaciers in Alaska's Inside Passage.

Deforestation in Bolivia
This visualization adapted from NASA features two satellite images from 1984 and 2000 that show the dramatic deforestation of the Bolivian rainforest.

Earth's Cryosphere: Antarctica
Learn about the different features of snow and ice in Antarctica using satellite imagery in this video segment adapted from NASA.

Earth System: Drought and Air Quality
This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center discusses how a drought can have negative effects locally, for example by increasing the number of forest fires, and also globally, for example by impacting air quality thousands of miles away.

Energy Sources
This video segment produced for Teachers' Domain illustrates a variety of energy sources used to generate electricity, some of which are in use and some of which are under exploration.

Garden of Eating
Students are asked how poor weather conditions affect the cost of fruits and vegetables.

Global Warming Threatens Caribou
This video segment adapted from Arctic Mission presents the challenges faced by caribou herds unable to adapt to a warming climate.

The Grand Canyon: Conservation and Development
This video segment adapted from NOVA explores the effects of the Glen Canyon Dam on the beaches, wildlife, and vegetation of the Colorado River.

Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2: A Record of Climate Change
Using images and graphs, this interactive resource illustrates scientists' efforts to study Earth's climatic history for the last 250,000 years by drilling into the Greenland Ice Sheet and examining ice cores. Adapted from the Wright Center for Science Education, Tufts University.

How the Arctic Ecosystem Might Change
In this video segment adapted from the National Film Board of Canada, learn why the unique Arctic ecosystem may be replaced if global warming continues to melt sea ice.

Hurricane Katrina: Possible Causes
This media-rich essay from NOVA scienceNow explores new research into hurricanes that may help explain Katrina's devastating impact and discusses the possibility that global warming played a role.

Hurricanes: New Orleans Under Threat
This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW exposes how decades of development and geography combined to make the potential damage from a hurricane uniquely devastating in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Impact of Technology: Society
This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey considers modern technology's impact on society.

La'ona DeWilde: Environmental Biologist
In this video profile produced for Teachers' Domain, meet La'ona DeWilde, an environmental biologist who integrates her Athabascan heritage and her Western scientific training to help remote Alaskan villages address environmental issues.

Losing Permafrost in Alaska
In this video segment adapted from Spanner Films, learn how Alaska Native communities that rely on hunting and fishing are threatened by rising temperatures and melting permafrost.

Ouch
Students are asked to explain how human actions have hurt the eagle and the sea turrtles.

People of the Arctic
This video segment adapted from the National Film Board of Canada explores how the Inuit people have adapted their traditions and ways of life to changing environmental realities. The video features archival footage and interviews in Native languages.

Samoa Under Threat
In this video segment adapted from Bullfrog Films, a local climatologist talks about the Pacific island of Samoa, which is under threat from an increasing number of intense storms possibly related to global warming.

Soil Microbes and Global Warming
In this video adapted from KUAC-TV and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, discover how warmer winters in Alaska may cause soil microbes to release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

Students Making a Difference
This interactive activity features three video segments produced by students in Alaska that demonstrate fun and innovative ways to help protect the environment.

A Subsistence Culture Impacted by Climate Change
This video adapted from the Arctic Athabaskan Council explains how warmer temperatures in the Arctic are transforming the ecosystem and threatening the subsistence culture of the Athabaskan people.

Warmer Oceans Affect Food Web
In this video adapted from KTOO, scientists discuss how ocean warming may be responsible for the decline in the seabird, seal, and sea lion populations of Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Your Carbon Diet
In this interactive activity from the NOVA/FRONTLINE Web site, you can click on various items in a typical New England house to find out how much energy each uses and some ways to reduce energy consumption in your home.