Attention Citizen Scientists! Volunteers Needed to Track Signs of Climate Change
March 5, 2009 · Print This Article
Want to get outside and help researchers track seasonal signs of climate change? The USA-National Phenology Network (USA-NPN), a consortium of government, academic and citizen-scientists, is launching a new program that will use volunteer observations of flowering, fruiting and other seasonal events to track the effects of climate change on the Earth’s life-support systems.
From the USA-NPN press release:
“This program is designed for people interested in participating in climate change science, not just reading about it,” said USA-NPN Executive Director and U.S. Geological Survey scientist Jake Weltzin. “We encourage everyone to visit the USA National Phenology Network Web site and then go outside and observe the marvelous cycles of plant and animal life.”
Phenology is the study of the seasonal cycles of plant and animals, such as plants sprouting, flowering and fruiting, and animals reproducing, migrating and hibernating. Changes in these patterns, caused by climate change or other factors, can significantly affect human economies and health. In some areas, such changes have already imperiled species, such as in the disappearance of some wildflowers from near Walden Pond, home of the famed 19th-century naturalist Henry David Thoreau.
The USA-NPN monitoring program harnesses the power of people and the Internet to vastly increase the data available to scientists and the public alike, Weltzin said. The program provides easy-to-use methods to track the life cycles of nearly 200 species of plants, and will begin monitoring animals next year.
Learn more about this program via a podcast by the U.S. Geological Survey, ‘Help Us Keep an Eye on Climate Change’.
Getting outdoors, enjoying nature and helping the fight against global warming all at the same time? You can’t beat that. Visit the USA National Phenology Network website to get all the details on how you can participate and share your data.
Link [USA-NPN] + [Corecast]
Photo credit: Flickr user Jesse.millan
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hi this is manika from india specifically delhi as this article talked about the climate cange i would definately would like to inform you about the recent climatic distortons that have occured here in India. beco’zof global warming my city delhi has for sure faced the change in regualar climatic conditions as there are less of winters here and mor eof summers as compared to earlier years when there was a 6 months cold n 6 months hot climate. well that was my pasrt of contribution i have specified my email id and also my news blog. http://www.newzburp.com.