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As more U.S. states and countries experience drought, scientists are looking at ways to help the clouds produce rain. It's called cloud seeding or weather modification and it's not proven to work. This public radio story looks at the scientific process and the controversy over cloud seeding.
Story Length: 3:07
Michigan Radio
Carbon can be found in just about everything on earth, including proteins, DNA, and fats. Scientists around the world are working together to measure carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and oceans. This public radio story introduces us to a scientist who is passionate about the global climate crisis. The story challenges students’ math skills and gets them thinking about their carbon footprint.
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Copying the way a desert beetle gets water, scientists have designed a membrane that can extract water from the air. Since all air contains water, even in the desert, this could provide a very inexpensive way to supply drinking water. This audio story describes an application of the idea of “biomimicry,” or using ideas from nature to solve technological problems. This can help solve the problem of scarce drinking water.
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A United Nations report in 2014 shows that human activities are changing the planet. The scientists are more confident in their conclusions that humans are causing global warming. There are rising sea levels, higher temperatures and impacts on wildlife. This conversation with a public radio reporter looks at the long term trend in global temperatures and what humans can do to reverse the trend.
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Scientists are using computer computations to link cases of extreme weather to global warming. Scientists set out to link major flooding in England and Wales in the fall of 2000 to climate change. This task was undertaken by scientists and citizens alike - running thousands of computer simulations and comparing the result in a world with climate change and one without it. Listen to learn what these simulations found.
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