Earth Needs YOU (To Join An Adler Zooniverse Earth Science Project)
Header Image: The famous Earthrise photo from the Apollo 8 mission. Image Credit: NASA
Have you been avoiding the news about climate change? Averting your eyes every time someone presents you with a terrifying graph of global temperatures over the last few decades—or worse, one of the graphs that also projects what the temperature will be over the NEXT few decades? Enjoying the unseasonably warm days while also fighting a creeping sense of doom? Friend, I can relate.
Climate change is scary.
The last few years on Earth have been among the warmest on record. Wildfires, extreme weather, and natural disasters are becoming more common. Climate change is real, it’s happening right now, and it can feel overwhelming.
But YOU can help!
Just because a problem feels big doesn’t mean it’s too big to manage. The more we know about our planet, its natural history, and all its complex, interconnected ecosystems, the better prepared we will be to take good care of it—and to adapt as it changes around us. But you don’t have to be an Earth scientist to make real contributions to this important field of research!
Adler Zooniverse connects volunteers like you from all over the world with research teams who need your help sorting through huge data sets. You don’t need any special training or skills to join an Earth science project and make a difference. All you need is your own powers of observation and the device you’re reading this on.
So take a deep breath and check out the latest Zooniverse climate science projects! The planet is counting on you not only during Earth Month, but all year long.
Recent Climate Science Projects
- Penguin Watch: count penguin adults, chicks, and eggs in far away lands to help research scientists understand their lives and environment.
- Sunspot Detectives: look at drawings of the Sun that were made more than 100 years ago to help astronomers understand our Sun’s past and how the star affects our planet.
- South Coast Threatened Fauna Recovery Project: identify wildlife via images taken from the south coast of Western Australia to help researchers protect Western Australia’s rarest mammal and bird.
- Mapping Change: transcribe hand-written museum specimen labels to help scientists map the distribution of animals, plants, and fungi in the Midwestern US.
- Wildwatch Burrowing Owl: look at images of the western burrowing owl to help conservationists in San Diego, California better understand their ecology and behavior to protect this species.
- Frog Find: listen to audio clips of frog sounds recorded across NSW National Parks to help scientists find and protect threatened frogs.
Learn More About Adler Zooniverse
Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research, aka citizen science! In 2024, the Zooniverse platform won the award for ‘Open Science to Advance Innovation’ from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Year of Open Science Recognition Challenge.
Researchers need volunteers (that’s you) to assist in processing large sets of data for projects across a variety of different topics like art, biology, climate, history, language, literature, medicine, nature, physics, social science, and space. You don’t need any specialized background, training, or expertise to participate in Zooniverse projects and finding a project you’re passionate about helping is easy. Just ask the other 2.7 million Zooniverse citizen scientists! All you need to contribute to real academic research is a curious mind, a willingness to learn, and a computer or phone.
