Floods, storms, drought: expect all these and more, say the experts, as the world’s climate changes over the coming decades. But what are the facts, and what can we do? Run by the BBC Weather Centre, this excellent primer succinctly answers vital questions: what exactly do we mean by climate change, given that the climate is permanently in flux? What are “greenhouse gases”? And what is the famous — or infamous — Kyoto Protocol? This is the place to catch up on the themes of National Science Week, now under way: evidence for climate change; its likely global impact; how the world might adapt; and, of course, the political issues. There are easily digestible nuggets, with clear and simple animations and audio clips from experts such as Dr Merylyn McKenzie Hedger, from the Environment Agency, who discusses how and why flooding will become more frequent. One minor quibble: the colours chosen for the text and background aren’t always easy on the eye.
NATURE IN ACTION
www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards
Four stars
Nasa’s stunning satellite images of recent natural disasters provide a global perspective on what’s already happening: from flooding in Bolivia to a tropical cyclone sweeping by Australia and wildfires in India. This is also a telling glimpse of what could be to come. Alongside the images, which can be viewed at high resolution, informative texts fill you in on why disasters occur — tornadoes, flash floods and typhoons are all powerful examples of the Earth “ attempting to smooth out temperature irregularities between the poles and the equator”. Despite its slight US bias, the site is wide-ranging, with sections on drought, smoke, fires, floods, severe storms and volcanoes. Follow the links to the Energy section for a good primer on global warming, which includes the views of sceptics unconvinced by the evidence. Though largely limited to text and still images, this is a treat for anyone fascinated by extremes of nature.
ENERGY-SAVING EXPERT
www.est.org.uk/myhome
Four stars
Save up to £250 per year on your energy bill with this eminently practical site, run by the Energy Saving Trust. Here is a monumental amount of information for protecting your purse and, in the process, the environment: from receiving a government grant for home improvements to simple tips for your car. The interactive cross section of a house superbly shows how and where savings can be made, from the simple (turn off lights when you leave a room) to the more complicated (a high-efficiency condensing boiler could knock as much as 32% off heating bills). After filling in the online home-energy check form, I learnt that improvements to the insulation of my loft and water tank will make me £200 better off each year. As I write, I have reached for a second pullover and turned the heating down by one degree, shaving nearly 10% off my bill.
ATOMIC AUTHORITY
www.atomicarchive.com
Three stars
Global warming has put nuclear power on the energy agenda again, and rising tensions over Iranian nuclear ambitions have also made atomic matters topical. Partly sponsored by America’s National Science Foundation, this site provides an excellent overview of the atomic age, with biographies of the key players and a detailed history. A rare delight among science-related sites, it’s rich in multimedia — with animations, interactive models, maps, videos and photographs in the Media Library section. You can watch nuclear explosions and the clip of Robert Oppenheimer — who led the team developing the first atomic bomb — as he ponders the ramifications of his work, declaring, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds” (a line from Hindu scripture). Beyond the overly cluttered home page, the site offers a handy guide to the science of atomic physics and a shocking reminder of the devastating effects of nuclear radiation on the human body.
FATHER OF ELECTRICITY
www.pbs.org/tesla
Three stars
A fascinating tribute to the energy pioneer Nikola Tesla, 150 years after his birth. He may not be as well known as his rival Thomas Edison, but his achievements were extraordinary: his Tesla coil supplies the high voltage for your television, and your electricity comes from a Tesla-designed AC generator. This site, created by the US public-service broadcaster PBS, should whet your appetite. The Life and Legacy section describes his early years and ends with the controversy over the “death beam”, which he claimed to have perfected during the second world war. Fascinating photographs are sprinkled through the text, including his somewhat ghoulish death mask. However, the Inside the Lab section is heavy going, and would benefit from a few animations.
LEARNING MADE FUN
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/energy
Three stars
The quizzes at this online accompaniment to the Science Museum’s Energy exhibition provide an entertaining and surprisingly informative way into the past, present and future of energy production. Aimed at the young, games and animations add variety, showing how a power station works and the ways in which oil and gas are formed, for example. There is also a wealth of surprising information — did you know that a hurricane has as much energy as 10,000 nuclear bombs? Or that a bolt of lightning has enough energy to toast 160,000 slices of bread? More Fascinating Facts to baffle your friends appear in pop-up boxes as you drill into this colourful and easy-to-navigate site. There might not be enough information in here for some tastes, but there are further links in the Teachers Section. The www.energyquest.ca.gov site is interesting, and the SuperScientists section provides excellent biographies of energy pioneers.
POLICY PRIMER
www.tyndall.ac.uk
Two stars
Here is a direct line into the minds of leading British scientists, engineers and economists from nine research institutes that together form the consortium running the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. It’s no place for the climate-change sceptic, working on the premise that global warming is one of the key challenges facing the nation in the 21st century — and that we need to act now to tackle it. But it’s worth visiting for the wide range of in-depth and up-to-date documents that provide some of the latest thinking on how to tackle the problem, covering issues such as the economic costs of moving to a “low- carbon” economy, and public perceptions of renewable energy and nuclear power.
- Christine McGourty is the science correspondent for BBC News
