In a world with climate deniers, scientists have been trying to uncover the most effective way to present the scientific evidence of anthropogenic climate change to audiences. “Climate stories” are personal accounts that have been used in recent years to engage more people in the global issue of climate change from an emotional perspective. There are multiple ways in which “climate stories” are presented. The present study explored the effects of audio, written, narrative, and informational climate change passages on the environmental decision-making levels of individuals.

Last summer, Washington experienced a record-breaking heatwave. The three-day stretch of scorching heat not only had a catastrophic effect on the state’s residents, but also its crops, thus impacting the food supply. I recorded 116 degrees at my house on June 28th, 2021. I saw news reports of entire fields of potatoes and cherries being destroyed, and fruits that stopped growing from the unusually high temperatures. With so much devastation to farmers, I began wondering how farmers are going to cope with the inevitability of future heat waves.

I was always a nature person and felt connected with the outdoors. There was something therapeutic about being alone by the water- just a wandering mind and the constant breaking of the waves along the shoreline. To me, the raw beauty of the environment is worth preserving because the small moments where we get the chance to truly appreciate nature are the most memorable ones. In a time where economic gains are prioritized above the state of the environment, it is disheartening to see that the environment that took billions of years to form is being dismantled in a span of decades … As I learned more about the major issues surrounding oceanic life and climate change, I became drawn to corals, who played pivotal roles in the balance of marine ecosystems while maintaining their intrinsic beauty.

Currently, two-thirds of the global population experiences water scarcity. One-fifth of the world population currently lives in conditions of physical water scarcity, where there is not enough water to meet their demands, and one-quarter of the world’s population experiences economic water scarcity, where their region has enough water to meet the necessary personal, agricultural, environmental, and industrial needs, but lack sustainable accessibility. Existing literature determined that water scarcity occurred more often in areas where irrigation systems had low water productivity (WP) and water use efficiency (WUE), primarily caused by a lack of sufficient irrigation scheduling technology.

Over the past fifty years, land temperatures have increased at a decadal rate almost twice that compared to the past 100 years. Warming Earth’s atmosphere creates a rise in ocean heat content, and alters wind patterns and storm systems that impact surface layer mixing and ocean stratification, affecting nutrient availability. Changes in ocean temperatures and nutrient conditions are expected to impact many organisms including phytoplankton, the ocean’s major producer. To evaluate how climate change threatens marine ecosystems, this project studied the impact of rising sea surface temperature and altered nutrient availability on the phytoplankton Thalassiosira.

Living in the intermountain west, I believe that there isn’t a more important resource to both humans and wildlife as water. Along with my early childhood interest in science, I have always been concerned about the availability of water, remembering times when our well water was low, barely yielding enough water for bathing due to the diversion of surface water for agriculture, as well as worsening drought conditions. I was also worried about the overuse of water by humans for seemingly trivial reasons, with little regard to wildlife or habitat needs.

For a moment, just think about it. Think about waking up in the middle of the night, thirsty, and not being able to access water because it is rationed so that the rest of your community can share the resource. Imagine using the restroom and having no water in the toilet because water is only cleaning out the latrine once a day. Although such scenarios seem quite extreme and impossible to many living in first world countries, this can become a reality at the rate at which water is being consumed and the inefficient manner it is being distributed … The water source on Earth is rapidly diminishing, and this is not new knowledge nor of new concern.

To predict the response of estuarine ecosystems to anthropogenic and natural changes, process-based physical computer models serve as an important tool for simulation of estuarine salinity. Among the school of data-driven parametric models as alternative tools for process-based physical models to simulate environmental variables, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have become an increasingly popular modeling technique over the past two decades (Maren et al., 1990; Schalkoff, 1997; Dawson and Wilby, 2001; Maier and Dandy, 2001; Dawson et al.

My parents, both Chinese citizens at the time, came to the United States in the late 80’s to attend graduate school. Later on, my mom got a job offer and they moved to the town I was born and raised in, a small town in North Dakota by the name of Grand Forks. We have been here since then. The Red River of the North runs through Grand Forks, and one summer, I was deemed old enough to ride my bike down to the river so that I could explore.

The Southern Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis), is the genus of bark beetles causing the greatest amount of damage to pine trees. Southern Pine Beetles (SPB) live in the phloem, the layer just under the bark. The beetles tunnel their way through the pine tree’s phloem as they eat, cutting off the circulation of nutrients, and ultimately killing the pine. As the average temperature of the globe increases, minimum winter temperatures are no longer reaching the lower lethal point in many areas.

I am Alice in Wonderland. It’s an inane statement, but it’s true. I’ve cracked the shell of reality, landing somewhere foreign and unknown. I’ve always attempted to chase small animals and to get lost in the simple web of suburban sidewalk. I’m infectiously curious; I’m constantly determined to explore. I can remember quite clearly the first time I broke the surface. I was in the mountains of upstate New York and still retained the neutral eyes of a child.

I sat as still as the humid air around me, on soft yellow sand lightly punctuated by pebbles and twigs. With my eyes, I followed an advancing motion that was shaking the lowest branch of one of the bushes that surrounded my little island of sand. Slowly and deliberately the motion progressed forward until, upon reaching the threshold where the protection of the leaves ended, it stopped. A minute or so later, an elaborately patterned green head emerged from the leaves and two intense black eyes focused on my surroundings and me.