Sea Change Part 1: In the Field

Daniel Grossman, Sea Change / Pliomax

This video is the first of a three-video series from the Sea Change project. It features the field work of scientists from the US and Australia looking for evidence of sea level rise during the Pliocene era when Earth was (on average) about 2 to 3 degrees Celsius hotter than it is today.

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Notes from our reviewers

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Consider focusing on the sections about the scientists in Australia and skipping through the stock footage about current SLR. Snapshots of climate change through geological records could be used to link this video piece. Educators could also have students research the Pliocene era and its relation to sea level rise - increases in CO2 and glacial melt. Website is helpful to supplement videos and tells the whole story in a manageable time: [http://sealevelstudy.org/sea-change-science/whats-sea-change-science/digging-into-the-pliocene]
Video combines 1) footage of paleogeologists searching for fossil shorelines in the Australian outback in an effort to establish evidence (by fossils of marine organisms) for higher sea levels in the Pliocene era with 2) stock footage of impacts of sea level rise in the current era if humans continue to burn fossil fuels. The portrayal of scientists' work is real and substantive; the footage of current impacts of SLR is melodramatic and doom-and-gloom. Comments from expert scientist: This resource teaches about how past climate information may be professionally researched so that useful conclusions may be drawn about the future of our planet. In addition, the video introduces you to scientists that have made major contributions to the climate discipline and allows you to see them working in the field.
Video is long for classroom use (10+ minutes), and the combination of real science with scary impacts is somewhat jarring. Educator might need to balance this effect. Transcript is provided. Sea Change website has some background information on sea level: [http://sealevelstudy.org/climate-basics/sea-level/past,-present-and-future]