Nearly every scientific and social issue confronting us today involves change: climate change, ecological change, cultural change. What forces drive these changes? What is the tempo and mode of these changes? Are these changes natural or the result of human tampering? Are they to be feared or welcomed? How do we - and all life on this planet - adapt to these changes? Come and explore the answers to these and other important questions with us.
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- Test your ability to balance soil productivity, food production, and greenhouse gas emissions in this fun new soil game.
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Ginkgo biloba, a hardy tree commonly found along city streets, is considered a “living fossil.” It is giving scientists important information about climate change.
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How are soils connected to earth's global ecosystems? How are wetland soils threatened by climate change and pollution? Dr. Pat Megonigal explores these questions and more.
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- September 2009. Australians were affected by the country's worst dust storm in seven decades. Learn about atmospheric transport >>
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- July 26, 2009. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center reported that ocean temperatures in Pacific had shifted into El Niño conditions.
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An exhibit that explores Earth's Atmosphere - a thin envelope that surrounds us and makes Earth habitable for life.
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An online exhibit that explores changes in the Arctic, the Earth’s northernmost region, and how they are monitored by scientists and polar residents alike.
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We are building an exhibit about soil - a world under our feet and teeming with life! Open at the Natural History Museum through January 3, 2010.
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The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History recently acquired an 80,000-specimen collection of bark beetles donated by the late Stephen L. Wood, Brigham Young University professor of Entomology, and former reigning expert on the bark beetles.
The Stephen L. Wood collection brings the collection of bark beetles held in the Natural History Museum’s Department of Entomology to an impressive 180,000 specimens, making it one of the most extensive collections in world.
“The Smithsonian’s collection is arguably the most important bark beetle collection in the world,” says David Furth, entomology collections manager at the Natural History Museum. “We are proud to have the S. L. Wood beetles join our collection.”
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