Hodder Education Blog #3: Where is all the sea ice going and why does it matter?

Hodder invited Jamie to write a short series of blog posts on Oceans learning; here is the third and final instalment.

In his third and last blog post on the oceans, Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop, looks at the topic of sea ice, the possibility of an ice-free Arctic, and what this means for habitats, the climate, commerce and geopolitics.

As a child, I held the idea that the North Pole sat in the middle of a permanent whiteness. I don’t remember whether I thought it was frozen ocean or solid land. For me, the world had an ever-present white cap. This is changing.

Graph showing the change in the Arctic sea ice extent (Image credit: © NSIDC)

Current estimates are that the Arctic will be ice-free in the summer by 2036. After centuries of trying to navigate the fabled North West Passage, this geographical shortcut connecting Europe and Asia may become a forgotten obsession. Instead ships will ply their trade across the entirety of the Arctic Ocean, rather than hugging the edges of land.

2007 marked the lowest extent of Arctic sea ice on record and the years since have shown little evidence of bucking the trend. This change has ramifications not just for international trade but also in terms of climate, habitat loss, natural resource exploitation and geopolitics, as well as the livelihood and culture of indigenous peoples who have long made the Arctic their home.

A loss of sea ice will create a positive feedback loop in the climate system. The white ice of the Polar Regions reflects solar warmth better than the dark waters of the seas. This solar reflection is known as the albedo effect. The phenomenon can be replicated in the classroom by placing a piece of black card and a piece of white card in direct sunlight or under a lamp. Attach a thermometer to the back of each piece of card and observe the changes in temperature for each over time.

As the ice breaks up cracks appear – these stretches of open water are known as leads (Image credit: © Martin Hartley)

The sea ice also provides important habitats to Arctic animals and plants, all the way from the microscopic life that inhabits the brine channels, to larger animals such as polar bears and ringed seals. The plight of the polar bear is well-documented and can provide an emotive ‘way in’ for some pupils. The WWF have produced some good background and resources on this topic.

Reduced sea ice not only represents opportunities for shipping, which could provide a lower carbon transport infrastructure between Europe and Asia, but also opens up new areas for natural resource exploration. The Guardian has produced an interactive map of current endeavours and Shell has developed a website describing its attitudes and plans for the region. One current issue is whether the chemicals used to mitigate environmental damage from oil spills will work in such cold temperatures.

In terms of geopolitics, the Russian claims to the North Pole are well-documented. Many countries bordering the Arctic are surveying the continental shelves, used as a marker for delineating territorial waters. There was also evidence of increased military build-up in Resolute Bay in the Canadian Arctic, when I passed through last year and the Danish Army patrols in Greenland were featured in episode 6 of the excellent Frozen Planet series.

This move to bring the Arctic hinterland of Canada and Russia under further control and to increase commercial activity in the region has had a negative impact on the indigenous peoples living there. Survival International write:

Many of the Innu are still fighting to retain much of their traditional lifestyle, increasingly difficult as the government hands out their land in mining concessions, floods the heart of their territory for hydro power schemes, and builds roads which cut up the remainder. In April 1999, the UN Human Rights Committee described the situation of tribal peoples as ‘the most pressing issue facing Canadians’, and condemned Canada for ‘extinguishing’ aboriginal peoples’ rights.

Pen Hadow gets ready to drill through the sea ice to measure its thickness on the 2009 Catlin Arctic Survey (Image credit: © Martin Hartley)

There is still a need to collect more data on the changes to the Arctic sea ice, whether by satellite or by hand as during the 2009 Catlin Arctic Survey. For more about teaching about the changes happening to the Arctic sea ice, have a look at the GCSE data case study on sea ice and the Key Stage 3 resources on the Frozen Ocean.

Hodder Education Blog #2: Ocean acidification – the ‘other carbon problem’

Hodder invited Jamie to write a short series of blog posts on Oceans learning; this is the second.

In his second blog post on the oceans, Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop, looks at the topic of ocean acidification and how it can be investigated in the geography classroom.

Ocean acidification is known as the ‘other carbon problem’. It is the process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed into the oceans and through chemical processes increases ocean acidity. The graph below shows data from the Pacific Ocean showing this relationship clearly.

Graph showing relationship between atmospheric CO2, ocean CO2 and ocean acidity

That the ocean acts as a carbon sink may seem like a ‘good thing’. There is fifty times as much carbon in the oceans than in the atmosphere. However, the rapid increase in atmospheric CO2 since the Industrial Revolution has started to have significant impacts on ocean chemistry. The average ocean pH has dropped from pH 8.2 to pH 8.1 over the past 250 years. This may seem like a small amount, but represents a 30% increase in ocean acidity. Current models indicate that the average ocean pH will drop to pH 7.8 by the end of this century.

In teaching ocean acidification in the geography classroom, there are a number of steps. The first is to provide an overview of the issue, as the topic may be unfamiliar to many students. Good introductory videos have been made by the National Resource Defence Council, The Acid Test:

and another by Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Ocean acidification: Connecting science, industry, policy and public

It’s also a good idea to cover some of the basic concepts and processes behind ocean acidification. A simple classroom experiment can be downloaded from [de] Oceans or you could simply add a pH indicator to still and sparkling water and see the difference.

Seeing the effect after blowing through a straw on the pH of seawater (Image credit: © Digital Explorer)

You may have to talk to the science department to borrow some pH indicator and may even get some brownie points for your cross-curricular endeavours.

Then either look at doing a data case study (see the GCSE Geography booklet). The data case study contains excel spreadsheet as well as offline versions of over 20 years of ocean acidification data from the Pacific.

For Key Stage 3 you could look at possible impacts on the marine food web. Details of an Arctic food web lesson can be found in the Key Stage 3 Geography booklet, including the classic experiment of putting shells in vinegar.

The Arctic acts as a bellwether for acid levels in our seas and their impact on the marine ecosystem. Acidification is thought to happen here faster than anywhere else.

Catlin Arctic Survey scientist, Dr Ceri Lewis from the University of Exeter explains: ‘Within only a few decades, an increase in ocean acidity may cause seawater to become corrosive to the carbonate shells of the smaller marine creatures that are so abundant in our marine ecosystems, with potentially serious consequences for both them and the larger marine fish and mammals that rely on them for food.’

Ocean acidification provides a great topic for the geography classroom, and shows a clear link between an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and widespread environmental change.

Hodder Education Blog #1: Why teach about the oceans?

Hodder invited Jamie to write a short series of blog posts on Oceans learning; here’s the first.

In the first of three blog posts on teaching more about the oceans in geography, Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop, tells us why the oceans are so important and gives readers some ideas about teaching about ocean currents when teaching climate.

When Digital Explorer launched an oceans education programme, sponsored by Catlin at the beginning of the 2011/12 academic year, we thought it would be a relatively simple process. The oceans cover 72% of the planet’s surface, provide 50% of the oxygen we breathe, regulate the climate and are the #1 source of protein for 1 billion people. The oceans are a pretty important topic and one that you would expect crops up throughout exam specifications and national curriculum documentation.

There is no explicit mention of the oceans as a standalone topic in any of the national curriculum documentation for Key Stages 3 and 4 and only one GCSE offers a unit on the oceans. I was shocked. Not only are the oceans crucial to our future, they are also in a parlous state. The oceans have become 30% more acidic since the Industrial Revolution and 90% of big fish stocks have gone.

At Digital Explorer, our education model is based around expeditions, and we kicked off our oceans programme with the Frozen Oceans resources based on three years of research in the Arctic Ocean, from the Catlin Arctic Surveys. Over the next three weeks, we will be sharing blog posts about how to teach three oceans topics in the geography classroom: ocean circulation and climate, ocean acidification and sea ice.

Ocean circulation and climate

The global pattern of thermohaline circulation (Image credit: © Canuckguy, Robert Simmon, NASA and Robert A. Rohde)

One of the research focuses of the 2011 Catlin Arctic Survey was the Thermohaline Circulation (THC). This is the system of ocean currents driven by the differentials in water density caused by temperature (thermo-) and salt (-haline). A well-known aspect of the THC is the Gulf Stream, a current that brings warm water from the Tropics to North West Europe. It is because of the Gulf Stream that when I left for the Arctic in March 2011, the temperature in London was about 10°C, compared to -15°C at a similar latitude at the bottom of Hudson Bay in Canada.

In general, when learning about climate, we learn about the importance of latitude. To simplify, it is cold at the poles and warm at the equator. But this cannot explain why there is a 25°C difference between places at the same latitude and altitude. This enquiry could form the basis for a single lesson on the role of ocean currents on climate or even a series of lessons. Using the weather layer in Google Earth or Google Maps, have a look at temperatures along the same line of latitude and see if there are any differences.

Another useful starter for teaching THC is the trailer for The Day After Tomorrow.

This Hollywood disaster film has as its central premise the shutdown of these ocean current systems, causing widespread climatic change. The timescale is highly improbable as is the scale of the impact, but as an exercise in counter-factual geography, it is quite fun! If the Gulf Stream were to shut down, there would be a cooling over a 50 year period, and potentially as much as 8°C in parts of North West Europe.

The Arctic Ocean plays a crucial role in the thermohaline circulation. It is in these waters that the cold, salty water sinks rapidly, causing a dragging motion that sustains the flow of surface water from the tropics northwards. The mechanics of this motion and the behaviour of different densities of water can be demonstrated using a simple classroom experiment. The physical properties of the Arctic Ocean are changing and further changes could disrupt the ocean currents (for more information download the Thermohaline Circulation Fact Sheet).

To know whether the ocean currents are at risk of slowing or even stopping is the subject of much current research. Scientists are taking measurements of the direction and speed of the oceans using a system of buoys. You can downloada Google Earth file that shows the current position of over 3,000 buoys and click on each one to see live data.

The oceans are fundamental to a sustainable future for our Blue Planet and we hope that you enjoy using [de] Oceans in your classroom.

Social networking – contacts or content?

The rise and rise of Twitter (a micro-blogging tool) has brought into sharp focus a division or shift in the social networking or web 2.0 landscape.

If web 2.0 can be categorised as online conversation, whether that be through the written word, images, video or a mix of the three, do we join these conversations based on who they’re with or what they’re about?

Contacts or content?

The difference is most notable when comparing a service such as Facebook and something like Twitter. Facebook replicates real world friendship and contact groups, whether professional or personal. Although some people gather ‘friends’ as those they’re life depended on it, the convention seems to be that I need to know you before I allow you to be my ‘friend’.

Conversely with Twitter, the friendship aspect is taken away. I can become a ‘follower’ of someone’s Twitter feed (the list of short comments or ‘tweets’ that are made and posted online). Becoming a follower of their feed does not make me their friend. It means that what they are saying is interesting and I would like to know what they have to say. It may be that I know this person in the real world and know that they are interesting, but there is much more opportunity to take the ‘contact’ aspect out of Twitter and keep your relations based on your interest in the conversation.

Satellite communications advice

Just a quick post before I head off to do some more expedition blogging via satellite…

Applied Satellite Technologies have supported Digital Explorer over the past few years with satellite communications equipment, advice and support. They are absolutely fantastic. No query is too complex and no project too strange. I cannot recommend them strongly enough if you ever need any satellite communications for your project or expedition.

Thanks in particular to Simon Thompson as well as the technical team who deal with all my problems without making me feel like an absolute muppet.

Geoblogging – advice wanted!!

Just putting the finishing touches to a guide for travellers and those going on expeditions and overseas projects on using blogs and other digital media tools to bring their journeys to new audiences online.

Decided to base it around the Blogger platform, this being the simplest, although would love to spend some time including more information on WordPress (think this will be in a few months’ time).

Just wondering if there are any bits of advice out there, that you wished you’d had before making your first blog or any things that you would really like to know how to do.

Full acknowledgement for any great tips.

Thank you and happy travels.

Test from Nokia

Another test this time using my mobile.

New remote posting via email test

I am just testing a new plugin that should make it easy to post via email. All very exciting and should open up a whole new realm of remote blogging.

Audio post by Digital Explorer

An audio message has been left by Digital Explorer! Listen here:

NEW Geo-blogging for gappers

Digital Explorer has developed a new course specifically designed for Gap year students on overseas projects and expeditions.

The course focuses on the use of free services such as blogger, youtube (or schooltube and teachertube), flickr and google maps, but takes these further and looks at how these can be used more effectively for creating a professional record of a gap expedition or project that can then be used for a variety of purposes, as well as looking at the use of technology in remote locations.

The course is ideal if you are looking to:

• Create a multimedia record of your Gap Year
• Involve family, friends and sponsors in your project or expedition
• Have an online project or expedition CV for future funders
• Use your Gap Year as an educational opportunity and share it with pupils and teachers at your former school

The course runs for a half-day on Wednesday 28 January 2009 and costs £55 (incl VAT) and can be booked with the Royal Geographical Society.