HR: 0800h
AN: ED11A-0111    [Abstracts]
TI: Whither Arctic Sea Ice? - An Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter on the climate's canary in a coal mine
AU: * Meier, W N
EM: walt@nsidc.org
AF: National Snow and Ice Data Center, UCB 449 University of Colorado, Boulder, Co 80309, United States
AU: Youngman, E
EM: betsy.youngman@pcds.org
AF: Phoenix Country Day School, 5804 North Echo Canyon Lane, Phoenix, AZ 85018, United States
AU: Dahlman, L
EM: luann_dahlman@terc.edu
AF: TERC, 2067 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140, United States
AU: Dahlman, L
EM: tamara_ledley@terc.edu
AF: TERC, 2067 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140, United States
AB: Arctic sea ice is declining rapidly. Since 2002, summer Arctic sea ice extents have been at record or near-record lows; winter extents have also showed a marked decline. Even in comparison to the previous five extreme low years, the 2007 summer melt season has been stunning, with dramatically less ice than the previous record in 2005. This is further evidence that the Arctic sea ice may have already passed a tipping point toward a state without ice during the summer by 2050 or before. Such a change will have profound impacts on climate as well as human and wildlife activities in the region. The "Whither Arctic Sea Ice?" Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter (http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/seaice/index.html) exposes students to satellite-derived sea ice data and allows them to process and interpret the data to "discover" these sea ice changes for themselves. A sample case study in Hudson Bay has been developed that relates the physical changes occurring on the sea ice to peoples and wildlife that depend on the ice for their livelihood. This approach provides a personal connection for students and allows them to relate to the impacts of the changes. Suggestions are made for further case studies that can be developed using the same data relating to topical events in the Arctic. The EET chapter exposes students to climate change, scientific data, statistical concepts, and image processing software providing an avenue for the communication of IPY data and science to teachers and students.
UR: http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/seaice/index.html
DE: 0700 CRYOSPHERE (4540)
DE: 0750 Sea ice (4540)
DE: 0758 Remote sensing
DE: 0820 Curriculum and laboratory design
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting