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"From the author of 1491--the best-selling study of the pre-Columbian Americas--a deeply engaging new history that explores the most momentous biological event since the death of the dinosaurs. More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed totally different suites of plants and animals. Columbus's voyages brought them back together--and marked the beginning...
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Bernice Notenboom leads an expedition from the Great Southern Ocean to the Great Barrier Reef to explore the changing currents and oceans that are driving extreme storms, sea surge, and changing the landscape of many small South Pacific communities. In this film, she investigates the role of phytoplankton, explores coral reefs, and talks with Tuvalvu residents about climate change and their future.
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Written in graphic novel format, follows the adventures of Max Axiom as he explains the science behind ecosystems. Download the free Capstone 4D app for an augmented reality experience that goes beyond the printed page. Includes videos, writing prompts, discussion questions, and hands-on activities.
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"This narrative middle-grade nonfiction from Rebecca Donnelly dives into the scientific and cultural history of the waste humans produce, examining why we make so much trash, why we're so bad at handling it, and how we can stop it (that is, us) from ruining the planet"--
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This is the story of the Salton Sea, its rich history and the challenges it faces. As the need for water in the American southwest becomes critical, the decisions we make now will impact people, animals and the environment for generations to come. There will be no turning back from the pathway we choose. Is it too late to save ourselves from impending disaster? Award winning photographer Trixi Huish and her husband Bret have spent over a year at the...
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"From one of our most beloved authors, a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home--now richly illustrated with almost four hundred images. A national bestseller, At Home is Bill Bryson's epic chronicle of domestic history. In this lavish new edition, his riveting room-by-room journey of discovery around his house--a Victorian parsonage in southern England--is enhanced by some four hundred carefully selected full color and...
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We all require food, air, and water to survive - which are contaminated to some extent by man-made pollutants. Two studies, one in a rural western mining town and another in a dense urban population, reveal how these exposures impact health, and what can be done to reduce the risks.
11) Oceans
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Ocean systems operate on a range of scales, from massive systems such as El Niño that affects weather across the globe, to tiny photosynthetic organisms near the ocean surface that take in large amounts of carbon dioxide. This program looks at how ocean systems regulate themselves and thus help maintain the planet's habitability.
12) Atmosphere
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The atmosphere is what makes the Earth habitable. Heat-trapping gases allow ecosystems to flourish. While the NOAA Global Monitoring Project documents the fluctuations in greenhouse gases worldwide, MIT's Prof. Kerry Emanuel looks at the role of hurricanes in regulating global climate.
13) Water Resources
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While essential to the lives of humans and animals, fresh water only accounts for six percent of the world's water supply. Scientists in Florida's Everglades and the water challenged Southwest consider the optimum use of existing sources of fresh water for both humans and ecosystems.
15) Agriculture
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Will world population outrun food resources? The "Green Revolution" of the 20th century multiplied crop yields, in part through increasing inputs of pesticides and fertilizers. How can farmers reduce their use of agricultural chemicals and still produce enough food?
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Global energy use increases by the day. Polluting the atmosphere with ever more carbon dioxide is not a viable solution for our future energy needs. Can new technologies such as carbon sequestration and ethanol production help provide the energy we need without pushing the concentrations of CO2 to dangerous levels?
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The early Earth was a much different planet than the one we know today. Ancient rocks provide evidence of the emergence of oxygen in the atmosphere and of a frozen Snowball Earth. Scientists Paul Hoffman and Andrew Knoll look at these clues to help explain the rise of complex animal life.
19) Ecosystems
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Scientists from the Smithsonian Center for Tropical Research document the astounding abundance of diversity in tropical rainforests to discover why so many species coexist that are competing for the same resources. In North America, the Yellowstone Wolf Reintroduction project explores why removing just one species dramatically changed the distribution of plants and animals up and down the food web.
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Once released, air pollutants react chemically with each other under solar radiation to become even more dangerous secondary pollutants. A company in the Northeast U.S. tracks the emission of pollutants at street level, while an international long-term study follows plumes of pollution from Mexico City across the continent and beyond.