JULY/AUGUST 2024
Presented by NOVA
Sea Change : Gulf of Maine Brings Home the Impact of a Changing Climate From the tip of Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, the Gulf of Maine courses with cold, nutrient-rich, deep-sea water, artfully mixed by the world’s biggest tides. This unique aquatic environment feeds a web of 3,000 species, ranging from microscopic plankton to massive right whales. Millions of people have lived along the Gulf’s rising edge, drawing their sustenance, fame, and fortune from its plentiful depths. A seminal body of water, the Gulf has remarkable historical significance as a cradle to ancient peoples and a lifeline to fragile colonies. Yet for all this storied bounty, long sustaining humans and marine animals, the Gulf is now in peril — its once-abundant fish stocks possibly depleted to irreversible levels. What happens to the Gulf — for the animals in the water, for the jobs dependent on them, and for the millions of people along its shores — is also likely to happen worldwide. With the Gulf warming 99% faster than the global ocean, we are at a crossroads for its future — and the future of our oceans. Does the Gulf retain enough of its biodiversity and regenerative
strength to weather the human-induced storm? Is the sheer beauty of the place and the spectacular range of its creatures enough to wake us to the stakes? A special three-part presentation of NOVA, premiering on July 24, Sea Change tells the epic story about a regional location with profound global implications. It is part of a new slate of ocean- and freshwater-centered programming that PBS has created as part of its multiyear climate initiative to enhance viewers’ awareness of the urgent challenges facing our oceans. Sea Change: Gulf of Maine joins Great American Eclipse, A.I. Revolution, and Decoding the Universe: Cosmos this year as part of NOVA’s 50-year commitment to demystify the scientific and technological concepts that shape and define our lives, our planet, and our universe. Recognized with hundreds of awards over the years, including multiple Emmy and Peabody Awards, NOVA is the most popular primetime science series on American television. Watch Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. beginning July 24 on WVPB.