The Earth's climate is dynamic, changing many times during the planet's history. These changes were caused by natural cycling and large, periodic events such as massive volcanic eruptions and shifts in the Earth's orbit. However for the past 200 years, human activity has created a sustained and growing impact. The burning of fossil fuels and deforestation has changed the temperature and composition of the atmosphere and the ocean and therefore very likely are influencing the Earth's climate. Below are several links to information and activities about climate change, the causes and impacts of climate change, the impacts and role of the ocean in climate change and the impact on the environment.
The NERACOOS ocean and weather climate display delivers information about the average weather and ocean conditions between 2001 and 2012. The display also includes information about recent and past years' ocean and weather conditions so that you can compare them to the average conditions from the past decade.
The upper layers of the Canadian Basin constitute a large reservoir of freshwater and buoyancy that derives from river runoff, sea-ice meltwater, and relatively fresh North Pacific waters. We use salinity, oxygen isotopes and nutrient concentrations to study the varying contribution from freshwater components in a series of Arctic Ocean cruises between 1989 and 2005.
