This Gross Clam Can Help Us Understand Climate Change

By Lauren Gilger, Kaely Monahan
Published: Monday, November 4, 2019 - 12:29pm
Updated: Monday, November 4, 2019 - 1:47pm

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Geoduck clams
Geoducks after harvesting.

The geoduck sort of looks like a giant clam with a long, gooey arm sticking out of it, and they're apparently delicacies in Japan.

But instead of focusing on the way they taste, scientists are looking at what their shells say about climate change. That might seem like an odd connection, but it turns out the method of studying tree rings works similarly for geoduck shells.

For that, The Show spoke to Bryan Black, associate professor in the University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree Ring Research.

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