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Listed under:  Science  >  Life  >  Ecosystems  >  Biogeochemical cycles  >  Water cycle
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Lakes in Antarctica

Scientists are not complacent. We still have a lot to learn about the water cycle. The discovery of glacial lakes under the ice in Antarctica actively transporting water between reservoirs was a surprise. These lakes can be up to 3km beneath the ice sheets. The pressure of the ice above helps to melt the ice, forming lakes. ...

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What is a cyclone?

This is an online resource about cyclones that provides a definition of a cyclone and information about winds, rainfall and storm surges during a cyclone. Links in the right-hand menu provide additional useful cyclone-related resources including weather and cyclone applications, publications and other related websites. ...

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Water: learn it for life! - year 7 science

This PDF unit of work is one of a series of resources accessible by searching the list in the series.It includes two teaching and learning sequences: 'Water journeys' focuses on the water cycle, and 'Pure water' focuses on the processes and people involved in creating and managing drinkable water. It provides Australian ...

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Water

This is a PDF resource that focuses on the theme of water in Australian artworks, featuring 15 different artworks using various mediums. Each page includes an image, description and context of the artwork, and information about the artist, as well as specific focus questions or key statements that prompt a response to the ...

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Food production in the Murray-Darling Basin

This thirteen and a half minute video highlights the importance of food and fibre production in the Murray Darling Basin. It explores the perspective of the farm families involved in both irrigated and dryland farming and explains how their products are distributed to local, national and global markets. This video also ...

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Farms have distinctive features: producer video

This is a video about action for sustainability on the Willalooka Pastoral Company's property in South Australia. Owner Thyne McGregor describes the natural characteristics of the extensive property in terms of its rainfall, soil quality and the Marcollat Watercourse. He tells how the property was originally cleared for ...

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ABC News: Population pressures in coastal towns

Stunning beaches and tourist-filled coastal towns are some of Australia's most important assets. But how do seasonal fluctuations in population affect these coastal communities? This clip focuses on a new push by the National Sea Change Taskforce to have visitor numbers properly counted in the next census, so that development ...

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Foreign Correspondent: Prehistoric evidence

Beneath the Yucatán Peninsula in south-eastern Mexico exists a karst aquifer, the largest underground river system in the world. Discover its deep caverns, which have been perfectly preserved for thousands of years, complete with prehistoric remains.

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Foreign Correspondent: Mesoamerican Reef threatened

The Mesoamerican Reef, just off the shore of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, is under major threat. Listen to oceanographer Roberto Iglesias-Prieto explain how untreated wastewater affects the underground river system and the reef.

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ABC News: Getting your facts straight about water use

We hear a lot about water use in Australia. What are the real statistics about water use? What is the breakdown of water use for different groups across Australia? Watch this clip to find out who uses water and how much, and consider the value of water and the 'return' on this use for the Australian economy. The figures ...

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Water and human wellbeing

This is an online resource about water availability on Flores, an Indonesian island, highlighting the importance of access to sufficient safe drinking water for the wellbeing of a community. It describes a project carried out by a partnership between AusAID, World Vision and local communities, to provide access to a plentiful ...

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Science for a hungry world

How vital is water to food production? What would happen if we ran out of readily available water? This is a real possibility for some countries that rely heavily on groundwater to grow crops and sustain local population. By observing the gravity of the Earth, NASA satellites have been able to track the changes in the amount ...

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Returning water to Hattah Lakes

The two short videos in this series highlight the value of Hattah Lakes and the importance of ensuring that sufficient water replenishes the lakes during dry times. The videos explain how dams and weirs upstream store flood water that would otherwise fill the lakes. A collaborative engineering project reduced the environmental ...

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Catalyst: Chemical pollutants toxic to whales

Explore how chemical pollutants affect the Antarctic food web. A scientist shows that baleen whales are consuming Antarctic krill contaminated by accumulated residues of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from pesticides and industrial chemicals. Find out why these pollutants are concentrated at the Earth's polar regions.

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Foreign Correspondent: Damming the free and mighty Mekong

The Mekong has been a rare thing: a largely untouched and free-flowing river. Stretching for nearly 5,000 km from the mountains of Tibet to Vietnam's Mekong Delta, it has provided a way of life for millions of people and been an important trading route between south-western China and south-eastern Asia. In this clip from ...

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Foreign Correspondent: The Mekong: A damming example

The government of Laos has plans for many revenue-raising dams along the Mekong River. Find out about a dam, the Nam Theun 2, which was completed in 2010 and lies across the Nam Theun river in the Nakai Plateau. This clip from the same year asks if the dam could be the flagship for others to be built along the Mekong. Discover ...

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Catalyst: Seals help climate research

Discover how seals are helping scientists study Antarctica, polar regions, oceans and climate change. Scientists use Weddell and southern elephant seals to gather data and monitor the way currents move heat around the world's oceans.

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Where does water go after it rains?

What happens to rainfall in Australia? Water usually flows downhill, and because we know where the hills are, scientists have been able to divide the country into drainage divisions, or catchments. Find out which drainage division you're in, and learn what happens to rainwater that doesn't make it to the sea. |Learn more ...

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This Place: Birian Balunah - the birthing of the rivers

Paula Nihot shares a story told to her by Yugambeh Elder Patricia O’Connor. It's the story of Wanungara, queen of the mountains, and her daughters Princess Toolona and Princess Caningera, and how their complicated relationships and choices explain the geography of the region.

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Foreign Correspondent: Sustainable tourism

The Yucatán Peninsula in south-eastern Mexico is a popular tourist destination. This clip focuses on examples of sustainable tourism - tourism that aims to have a low environmental impact. View Tulum, a town under threat of being developed similarly to Cancún, a major tourist resort destination.