Email Print Share
May 10, 2010

Climate Change Affects Bering Sea (Image 2)

Jackie Grebmeier, a National Science Foundation-funded researcher at the University of Tennessee, prepares sediment samples taken from arctic waters as part of the Western Shelf-Basin Interactions research project.

Physical changes such as rising air and seawater temperatures and decreasing seasonal ice cover appear to be the cause of a series of biological changes in the northern Bering Sea ecosystem. Changes such as these could have long-range and irreversible effects on the animals that live there and on the people who depend on them for their livelihoods.

A team of U.S. and Canadian researchers used data from long-term observations of physical properties and biological communities to conclude that previously documented physical changes in the Arctic in recent years are profoundly affecting Arctic life.

This image accompanied NSF press release, "Bering Sea Ecosystem Responding to Changes in Arctic Climate." [Image 2 of 5 related images. See Image 3.]

Credit: Peter West, National Science Foundation


Images and other media in the National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery are available for use in print and electronic material by NSF employees, members of the media, university staff, teachers and the general public. All media in the gallery are intended for personal, educational and nonprofit/non-commercial use only.

Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.

Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.

Also Available:
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (1.9 MB)

Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.