AIT in the Classroom is designed for high school science classrooms such as Earth Science, Environmental Science, and Physics, but the materials can also be used in Civics classes, middle school science classes and offer Service Learning opportunities as well.You just register with user name and email and then you may download any and all of the curriculum.
The damaging effects of this proposal to the wide-open landscapes and rural western lifestyle of the region would be widespread and long-term. That's why we need your help today - to take action and convince the BLM to adopt a responsible, sustainable plan that will protect wildlife and special places like the Vermillion Basin proposed wilderness.
You can take action by clicking here, or by pasting the following URL into your browser: http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/littlesnake_plan?rk=sd3sEbF1QYqME
Independent Online Edition > Climate Change
The Climate Change Bill's main points
* Britain is to become the first country in the world to set legally binding targets for cutting its carbon dioxide emissions. The targets
will be aimed at cutting emissions of the gas which causes global warming by between 26 per cent and 32 per cent by 2020, and 60 per
cent by 2050.
* New system of five-year "carbon budgets" to cap total emissions. Limits set 15 years in advance to help business planning. Ministers
say that the caps will set a "trajectory" for hitting longer term Government CO2 emissions targets.
* Courts are to be given powers to "name and shame" ministers if targets are missed.
* An Independent Committee on Climate Change will be established to advise on progress towards hitting emissions targets.
* The committee will be tasked with making annual reports to Parliament on progress towards emissions targets.
* Ministers required to produce five-year reports on the potential impact of climate change and their responses.
* Government will be granted new powers to introduce regulations to help ministers impose future controls on emissions, such as a
possible future domestic emissions trading scheme.
KEY DATES...
1827 French scientist Jean-Baptiste Fourier compares the warming effect of the atmosphere to a greenhouse.
1863 John Tyndall, an Irish scientist, shows how water vapour in the atmosphere can act as a greenhouse gas by trapping heat.
1890s Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius suggests that burning fossil fuels may lead to a build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
which could exacerbate the greenhouse effect.
1957 David Keeling, a US scientist, begins to monitor carbon dioxide on a long-term basis and soon finds a year-on-year rise.
1979 First World Climate Conference highlights the possibility of global warming.
1985 The first world conference on the greenhouse effect his held at Villach in Austria.
1987 Warmest year on record.
1988 US congressional hearings blame major drought in the United States on the influence of global warming.
The World Meteorological Organisation set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
1990 First report of the IPCC finds that the planet has warmed by 0.5C on average since the start of the 20th century.
1992 Climate Change Convention signed in Rio by 154 nations sets initial targets to reduce the scale of carbon dioxide emissions,
based on emissions in 1990.
1995 The hottest year to date.
1997 Kyoto protocol agrees binding cuts in emissions but US says it will not ratify unless Third World countries are included.
1998 Hottest year on record, in the hottest decade.
2001 George Bush abandons Kyoto, saying the science is uncertain. IPCC publishes its third assessment report. Link strengthened between
man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and global warming.
2002 The EU and Japan ratify Kyoto but Russia delays. The world experiences second hottest year on record.
2003 Heatwave kills thousands across Europe. Scientists link it directly with global warming.
2004 Russia signs up to Kyoto, so it can now come into force in 2005.
2005 Second warmest year on record globally. Kyoto protocol comes into force. Economist Nicholas Stern publishes his report saying that
we cannot afford to do nothing about climate change. In August, New Orleans is devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
2006 The IPCC confirms that global warming is real and that man-made emissions of carbon dioxide are at least partly responsible. Former
US vice-president Al Gore wins an Oscar for the film An Inconvenient Truth, warning about global warming.
via Ground Truth Investigations
Urge your representative to cosponsor a bill to study the benefits and costs of restoring a free- flowing lower Snake River. Take action today
Now here's some rad green: A solar-powered iPod charger from the Holland-based company Soldius. The wallet-sized Soldius 1 Universal Solar Charger comes with two mini solar panels and fits most Apple iPods as well as a variety of cell phones. And it gets your music maker up to full juice in about four hours.
Beware, though: Reviewers say you'll need direct sunlight to get a good charge from the Sodius 1. By the way, Soldius also makes solar iPod charging backpacks, luggage, and (gulp) golf bags.
No, we're not urging you do anything illegal. But as Ideal Bite (one of our favorite green websites) asks: Do you really need the liner notes to that new Nelly Furtado album? So why not just download it instead?
Consider this: CD and DVD jewel cases are often made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is one bad environmental actor (see below) that cannot be recycled. When you download your media, you're also saving the resources used to produce and ship discs…not to mention their higher costs.
And when you get tired of downloading Nelly, you can just delete her: Ideal Bite says 100,000 pounds of CDs worldwide are thrown away every month.
PVC (also known as #3 plastic) is amazingly prevalent in the modern world — in everything from toys to shower curtains to IV bags. But it's also potentially toxic to humans at all points in its lifecycle, from production to use to incineration.
When PVC burns, it turns into dioxins, endangering communities near trash-processing plants. And PVC is an enviromentalist's nightmare: It can't be recycled, and just one PVC bottle amidst 100,000 #1 and #2 plastic bottles can ruin a recycling run. Mindful of the risks, companies from Microsoft to Victoria's Secret have already eliminated PVC from their packaging.
But what can you do? Avoid buying plastic products that have the number "3" or the letter "v" (for vinyl) stamped into them. The Center for Health, Environment, and Justice has a list of PVC products as well as other steps you can take to rid the world of the sign of three.
That nasty PVC is also part of 90 percent of sticky plastic yoga mats, a fact that definitely harshes the mellow of our downward-facing dog.
So switch your mat to one made of organically grown natural fibers such as cotton or jute. They're washable, give good traction and absorb the sweat pouring off you as you go deeper into warrior pose. Some companies (such as Mina wear and Hugger Mugger) are even making mat bags out of hemp denim and recycled paper.
Still, if you can't bear to part with the stickiness of plastic, try Gaiam's Premium Yoga Mat, which is synthetic but doesn't contain PVC.
Designer jeans: You gotta have 'em. But the cotton that goes into just one pair of jeans requires nearly a pound of pesticides — if the cotton is grown conventionally, that is.
Fortunately, you can now score fashion-forward jeans made from organically farmed cotton or hemp, which avoids the pesticides as well as runoff from petroleum-based fertilizers. Try purveyors such as Loomstate, Rawganique or Grace & Cello for ooh-la-la blues that show off your environmental consciousness as well as your figure.
Also, some eco-jean makers (such as Del Forte and Levi's) will even recycle your old jeans in exchange for a discount off your next purchase. That's two different kinds of green: We like that fit!
If you're a dog owner, you love getting the newspaper delivered — if not for the paper itself, than for the brightly colored bags you can use to clean up after Rover. But regular plastic bags often have tiny holes in them that can result in, uh, unexpected unpleasantness. And they keep the poop preserved for far too long in landfills.
Try biodegradable bags instead: They break down more quickly and cost about the same. Ecosafe, Ecoproducts and Biobag are just a few of the companies making it greener to pick up the brown. And don't you know you should be reading your news online, anyway?
OK, so wallet-sized guides to ocean-friendly seafood have been around for a while. But do you actually carry one and use it? Without it, you'll be at sea when it comes to deciding between Alaskan or Atlantic Salmon, bay or ocean scallops, or striped bass from Chilean.
So make this the year of really fresh fish with this guide (PDF, 121KB) from The Blue Ocean Institute. It gives you the most endangered seafood sources, consumption warnings, and the fisheries certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, a watchdog group that encourages sustainable fishing practices. Impress your family and friends at restaurants! And give thanks for yet another reason not to order caviar.
AFV School Bus Connection |
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The current administration plans to double the number of oil and gas wells on western lands over the next two decades, an increase that could have enormous impacts on communities, water, wildlife and wilderness.
What's to be done?
