Tag archives for Global Warming
Posted by Have you ever wondered what climate change looks like? A climate park located in Jotunheiman National Park in Norway opened in April to help visitors understand the environmental impact of global warming. At Klimapark kids and adults can observe glaciers, snowdrifts, melt-offs,
permafrost. There are also tours under the Juvfonna
ice patch, the only ice tunnel in Northern Europe.
Archeologists have discovered hundreds of artifacts in the mountains surrounding the park due to unusual glacier melting, some up to 1,700 years old.
Klimapark also offers a summer “Klimacamp” in August, where kids can camp in the area, explore the land, and learn about the history of Norway. The camp is free, but there are a limited number of spots, so campers are selected through an application process.
Photograph courtesy Espen Finstad, KlimaPark 2469
Visit the Klimapark website.
Find out more about Klimacamp.
A new study predicts that one out of every five lizard species will be extinct by 2080 if global warming continues. When it gets too hot to be in the sun, lizards must hide in the shade and rest, because they are cold-blooded animals and can’t adjust their body temperature. If the Earth’s temperature gets warmer, lizards will spend more time hiding in the shade and less time hunting or laying eggs. Warmer temperatures may mean that lizards starve to death.
Read more about the study on National Geographic News.
Watch a video of “flying” lizards on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph courtesy Ignacio de la Riva
Did you know that your cell phone charger still uses energy if you keep it plugged in after your phone is charged? That is one of the amazing facts you can discover on the Energy Star website created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. You can find ways you can save energy, watch a slide show about global warming, and learn how your school can get involved and become more energy efficient.
Visit the Energy Star website.
Scientists in Denmark wondered if global warming could make Greenland’s wolf spiders bigger. During a ten-year study, they tracked spider sizes. In years when spring came 30 days earlier than usual, some spiders grew exoskeletons that were thicker than average, resulting in bigger bodies! In colder winters, spiders grew thinner exoskeletons. What’s more, during warmer springs female spiders grew larger than the male spiders did.
Photograph by Tom Uhlman/AP
As the Earth’s temperature warms, bigger spiders could become the norm. Researchers aren’t sure why warmer temperatures mean bigger wolf spiders. It could be because their prime hunting season is longer. Or perhaps longer summers allow the spiders to molt–shed their old exoskeletons–more often, letting grow bigger during their lifetimes. The study’s co-author, Toke Høye, is pretty sure that bigger spiders will also mean MORE spiders, because larger female wolf spiders have more offspring than smaller ones.
Read more about this spider study on National Geographic News.
Watch a jumping spider video on National Geographic Kids.
