Students from around the world calculated their class mean and standard deviations for their footprints and posted them on our world map.
Do you see differences across the globe? If so, why do you think those differences exist?
Did you use the calculator to try to reduce your footprint down to the average from a citizen of another country? What changes would you have to make to lower your footprint in this way? Are you going to try and take some of these actions in your daily life?
Student Footprints >
The Effect of Climate Change on the Shellfish
Among scientists, there is no debate that climate change directly affects the oceans. Since the ocean is a CO2 sink, it absorbs lots of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. With the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere, there is also an increasing amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the ocean. When the ocean absorbs CO2, the CO2 reacts with the salt water to create carbon acidic water. This affects the PH levels of the ocean making it more acidic. When the ocean grows more acidic, the shells of shellfish grow less strong. So, climate change is killing off marine life.