The CARIM project, funded by MBIE is researching the decrease in pH in NZ’s coastal waters and its effect on marine life.

Climate is the average weather of a given area over a long period of time. This includes seasonal temperatures, rain, sunshine, and large weather events such as storms.

When Tokelau decided to switch to renewable energy, they thought critically about all the options. They decided that solar energy was a cost-effective option suited to the sunny Tokelaun climate. Over four thousand solar panels were installed on Tokelau, making them the first country in the world to use 100 percent renewable energy. Now they hope to inspire others to make the switch.

Nancy Bertler is a scientist who studies the ice. She’s been examining Antarctic ice cores to discover what Earth’s climate was like in the past – and how it might change in the future.

This detailed article looks at the science and politics of climate change. It examines what global warming is, explores how scientists use computer modelling to predict the impact of climate change, and explains how scientific innovations in New Zealand could help reduce our agricultural emissions.

This article examines how different processes combine to affect the balance of carbon in the atmosphere. It explains that the increased level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is having a huge effect on climate – an effect that can be reduced, as carbon is finite. Carbon sinks, in the form of forests, the ocean, and soils, could help to balance the carbon levels in the atmosphere. However, each form has its own complications. The article concludes that human use of fossil fuels needs to be reduced to protect the carbon sinks around us.

Talking about renewable energy, Dr Michelle Dickinson will cover the science of how to make electricity and carry out a hands-on experiment while talking about solar cells with Professor Justin Hodgkiss from The MacDiarmid Institute.

Here’s hoping you’ll dig Bill Nye the Science Guy in the “Fossils” episode.

Link for video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d-cXkkPecE

This episode doesn’t stink, even though it’s about pollution.

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h3kjFRLpWs

These activities enable students to explore the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy sources used for the generation of electricity (and other forms of energy and/or production), identify impacts of their use, and relate this to New Zealand’s nation-wide sustainability targets.

Explore renewable energy in this fun, hands-on STEM lesson. Available free for teachers, it includes curriculum-matched teaching notes.

This resource is designed to help teachers and educators deliver lessons in the classroom that focus on the impact of climate change and more specifically ocean acidification on the marine environment. For accompanied presentations: https://www.otago.ac.nz/marine-studies/resources/download/index.html#soak

An activity to explain the feeding relationships of marine animals and plants and to investigate the results of human intervention on these relationships.

In this issue we put the bright light on power issues; what types of energy we currently use, where it comes from and some energy alternatives.