Climate Connections Copies of Previous Emailings
(The most recent is at the top of the file. Note that because of the need for
some line breaks, if a link doesn't work, you might have to remove a break.)
May 5, 2008 Email
==========
!!!! SPECIAL ALERT: EDUCATIONAL CLIMATE WORKSHOP FOR
PLANETARIUMS!!!!!!
For those going to the International Planetarium Society in Chicago
later this month, note that a workshop I will be leading has just been
approved. The workshop is entitled: "Acting on the Truth:
Acting and Collaborating on Climate Change" If you will be attending
and want to get together with peers from around the world, here's a
chance to collaborate on doing programs of all types.
==========
NASA Funding for Climate Education... Well, sort of. A new
solicitation seeks to fund projects with links to the subject. Here's a
descriptin:
NOTE: Proposals Due July 15, 2008
This opportunity solicits proposals primarily focused on education
and public outreach (E/PO) activities in support of NASA's Science
Mission Directorate: Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics, and
Planetary Science Divisions. Proposals capable of promoting public
understanding of climate science of the Earth system and articulating
NASA's contribution to its advancement in recent decades are
encouraged.
Proposals relevant to the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) are
also particularly encouraged. Proposals that address science
learning needs across the Divisions are encouraged; however,
proposals may target the content of a single Division. While the
integration of Earth and space science education is not a primary
focus in this amendment, such proposals will also be considered.
E/PO investigations or projects will be selected for a period of up to
four years beginning in FY 2008. The anticipated total amount of
funds available for new awards under this solicitation is
approximately $2M per year over the four-year period. This
solicitation is open to a wide range of proposed costs from a few
$10Ks for small, focused projects to $100Ks for large-scale projects.
For the full announcement and guidelines, go to:
http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?method
=init&solId=%7b163C22F7-FEAD-757E-3F1B-
B36FEA860810%7d&path=open .
==========
The Union of Concerned Scientists has an important new letter
urging action from scientists. You may find it here.
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/top-us-scientists-and-
0120.html
==========
Finally! The US Government on climate impacts and science has
been released. It's been a long time coming and you can find out why
elsewhere. Here's the link to this important and official report:
http://climatescience.gov/
==========
Bravo! Reserve your tickets now! "Inconvenient Truth" is being
staged as an operat at La Scala. It's a long time from now, but the
tickets could be hard to get.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080529/ap_en_mu/al_gore_opera
==========
The solar forcing "connection" keeps coming up and I tend to like the
articles that come out of the Yale Climate Media Forum.
http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/ccm/0508_solar.htm
==========
Freeman Dyson weighs in on the economics of acting on climate.
He's somewhat skeptical about taking action, but really not a person
one should take too lightly....
Freeman Dyson...http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21494
===========
It's going to be cooler for a while, but we shouldn't be complacent.
Here's a good article my Mr. Revkin.
SCIENCE / ENVIRONMENT
In a New Climate Model, Short-Term Cooling in a Warmer World
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: May 1, 2008
Climatologists will create decade-long climate forecasts, just as
meteorologists craft weeklong weather forecasts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/science/earth/01climate.html?ex
=1367380800&en=
d33ac903c2d9a515&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
===========
Planetarium people might be interested in some new content you can
download here. It's sponsored by KidsCall, the youth campaign of the
World Future Council addresses the children of the world. They are
invited to express their concerns and wishes regarding climate
change and environmental destruction to the G8 politicians in letters,
emails, videos and pictures. Please find more information at the
campaign websitewww.kidscall.info .
To support these goals, Planetarium Hamburg in cooperation with
KidsCall has created a fulldome trailer
and for non-digital planetariums a set of allskies, which we offer you
for free. You can download them at
www.planetarium-hamburg.de/kidscall
===========
So much of modern science is being hijacked by deniers. We really
need to push back hard in many areas. Barry Brook has written a
nice article in Australian Science:
http://www.australasianscience.com.au/bi2008/294conScience.pdf
===========
I just watched the video, "The 11th Hour" and liked it. It has some
great talking heads and amazing video footage. It's also not too
expensive and worth having.... http://wip.warnerbros.com/11thhour/
==========
Yet another great online resource from Australia....
Energy Transformed: Sustainable Energy Solutions for Climate
Change
Mitigation*
This 600+ page Online Textbook provides FREE access to a
comprehensive
education and training package that brings together the knowledge of
how
countries, specifically Australia can achieve deep cuts. See:
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Sustainable_Energy_Solutions_Po
rtfolio.as
px_
==========
Storing Solar Energy is going to be an important technological hurdle.
This article was interesting:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/science/earth/15sola.html?ex=1
365998400&en=e608284a578d3d9e&ei=5124&partner=permalink&e
xprod=permalink
===========
Project Vulcan and Maps of CO2 emissions. This is really interesting
and useful for anyone who is creating visuals for publication or
education:
http://www.purdue.edu/eas/carbon/vulcan/index.php
==========
An old classmate of mine from graduate school who understands
energy policy and engineering much better than I do pointed me to
this important article. The climate problem can be solved. But tackling
it is going to be a lot harder than you've been led to believe.
A Really Inconvenient Truth
By: Matt Jenkins
http://www.miller-mccune.com/article/188
===========
We need energy efficiency too and more research:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/weekinreview/06revkin.html?ex=
1365220800&en=
669057620551c2ba&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
==========
Okay. now a pitch from my home team. I work to help the Gore
Climate Project and I'm sure you've started to see their latest add
campaign. Here's the note they sent us way back in April.... Sorry it's
so late.
--
Dear Friend:
Yesterday we unveiled the We campaign, which will ultimately be the
largest mobilization campaign ever on global warming. Please be
sure to check out our new website, and great video clip:
http://www.wecansolveit.org/anthem
I hope you will share this video with your friends and get them excited
about the We Campaign.
You can also watch Al Gore talk about the campaign in this clip from
the CBS show 60 Minutes:http://www.wecansolveit.org/cbs
The Washington Post ran a great article talking about the campaign's
launch. Here is an excerpt:
"In an effort to broaden the campaign's appeal, the alliance has
already forged working partnerships with groups including the Girl
Scouts and the United Steelworkers of America. One of its early ads
will feature the unlikely alliance of clergymen Pat Robertson and Al
Sharpton sitting on a couch on Virginia Beach, talking about their
commitment to address climate change."
You can read the entire article and forward it to a friend here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/03/30/AR2008033001880.html
Please ask your friends to join our effort by clicking
here:http://wecansolveit.org/page/invite/thankyousignup
Sincerely,
Cathy Zoi
CEO, Alliance for Climate Protection
http://wecansolveit.org
=========
Email 14. Sent 4/2/08
The Climate Project (http://www.theclimateproject.org/) had a
Midwestern reunion last weekend. You might want to check out their
newly revised website. The Alliance for Climate Protection
(http://www.wecansolveit.org/) will be launching a major advertising
blitz in the coming months. Al Gore was on 60 Minutes last week
talking about it.
========
CROP -- I think I sent a link on Alison Gannett before. Here's the one
that links to her CROP program:
http://www.alisongannett.com/Alison_Gannett/CROP.html
==========
Courses for Adults on Climate Related Topics: These are basically
for the cost of the relatively cheap work books. Check this group out
and all the things they're doing. If you wanted to do a small group
study project, it might be just the curriculum you need:
http://www.nwei.org/
============
Susi Moser is revered by many of the people I've spoken with
recently. You might want to chcek out what she has posted on her
web page: http://www.isse.ucar.edu/moser/index.html
==============
New from the Union of Concerned Scientists: They will soon be
putting out new reports on climate impacts in different US regions.
This will be important and useful. I'm sworn to secrecy now, but you
will find the new updates soon here:
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/
===============
Polar Palooza is the amazing program by an old friend, Geoff Haines-
Stiles. Check it out to see if it's coming your way:
http://passporttoknowledge.com/polar-palooza/pp04.php
Energy Education will in many ways be as important as climate
literacy. Someone pointed me to this site recently for curricula:
http://www.need.org/
EPA -- If you haven't book marked this yet, you should:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html
Cool Winter it's been here in the Midwest. It's all about El Nina, I
believe. Here's some educational info on this topic at NOAA:
http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/edu.html
==========
Not Much Warming Under the Sun There's been some discussion of
solar forcings -- mostly stirred up by deniers. Science Mag has a
good article.
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/312/3?eafSol
ar forcing:
==========
SCORE is the satellite that has done much of the solar work. I'm a
little disappointed in this site, but maybe someone else can find
something useful for educaiton here:
http://lasp.colorado.edu/sorce/index.htm
==========
Sea Rise Threats to US Coasts... It's coming. Check out this
NYTimes article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/science/12coast.html?ex=13630
60800&en=d1cf989180d5cc41&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod
=permalink
=============
Cold Spell -- Signals in Noisy System -- More on this cold winter and
weather vis a vis climate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/science/02cold.html?ex=136211
4000&en=0bb984344c9bdf8e&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=
permalink
Climate and Weather Article to look at:
http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/dept/0208_climate_weather.ht
m
===========
Jim Hansen's 10 minute talk to the Royal College of Physicians is
great. It's useful to see how Hansen makes his presentations:
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/RoyalCollPhyscns_Jan08.pdf
===========
=========================
28 February 2008
Global Warming Video Game -- I haven't checked this out, but it
looks interesting and the New York Hall of Science had a hand in it
so it must be of some value.
http://www.powerupthegame.org/
-----
Climate Science and Consensus -- Here's a rather interesting article
on the science, deniers and the issues of consensus.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/02/27/global_warming_deni
ers/index.html
-----
An article in the New Yorker this past week is a pretty thoughtful look
at different issues surrounding carbon footprints. I know I found the
food discussions interesting.
http://www.newyorker.com/services/referral?messageKey=40c5b850
52d2e520ab31ad83859fe658
-----
Keep the food coming. The new seed vault in Norway was in the
news all this past week should help insure that we can keep
thousands of years of husbandry and artificial selection preserved no
matter what. It really is an important concern that, frankly, I hadn't
thought a lot about. Here's the home page for the project:
http://www.seedvault.no/
-----
Green House Molecules in Action. When I give presentations I
always focus on the basic physics behind the trapping of the earth's
thermal radiation. I found this site to be interesting because it has a
good Java JMOL applet showing the vibrating modes of CO2.
http://osxs.ch.liv.ac.uk/~ng/external/vibrationsCO2.htm
-----
The American Association of Museums has posted an article from
their most recent issue. It's about environmentally conscious
museums. This is a huge issue, especially if you decided to do
climate change programming in your museum.
http://www.aam-us.org/pubs/mn/green.cfm
-----
Free Curriculum Materials Not sure how good they are, and one has
to buy it if you want the entire package. But, it's really worth checking
out. Many teachers I've spoken with are looking for curricula.
http://www.facingthefuture.org/
-----
Scholastic's Act Green Activity is much more informal and fun.
They're always worth watching for their creative approaches. It would
be great to have a game like this for adults too so we could
accumulate points.
http://www.scholastic.com/actgreen/
------
If you haven't voted in the primary elections yet and you want to
compare the candidates in detail, here's a good page:
http://www.grist.org/candidate_chart_08.html?source=liveearth
------
Garbage in the Pacific is pretty scary. I know this isn't a climate
change issue, per se, but it is rather horrifying tale of our aquatic
dump. I saw a movie last year called "Trashed" that talked about it.
Here's a recent article:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-
a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html
---------
Another Carbon Tracker I ran across to do some calculations on air
travel. It looks useful to me.
http://2020by2012.org/node/161#faq14
---------
Story of Stuff -- I really like this little video. The approach and
animations are great too.
http://yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=2326
-------
Biofuels don't really help... I've always had suspicions. This article is
helpful if you're curious.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/science/earth/08wbiofuels.html?
ex=1360126800&en=93ca489c838610cf&ei=5124&partner=permalin
k&exprod=permalink
-----
Arbor Day maps ... If you do any presentations or education on
climate change, I really recommend the images on this page. I
always find that adult audiences have a significant fraction who plant
gardens and are sensitive to this issue. The climate zones have
shifted dramatically in recent years. These images help you show this
easily.
http://www.arborday.org/media/mapchanges.cfm
-----
The Book Corner... For those of you who want a good undergraduate
level text that is pretty complete in its treatment of climate science I
can recommend, William Ruddiman's, "Earth's Climate Past and
Future" 2nd edition (ISBN-10: 0-7167-8490-4) . I just finished it and
use it for reference to decode many of the articles I read. It's not
cheap, but maybe you can get your librarian to buy one.
-----
28 January 2008
Dear Climate Education Colleagues and Producers,
Here are a number of links I've collected in the last month you might
find useful....
----
>> This Thursday's the Day to .... Focus the Nation
Focus the Nation is organizing a national teach-in on global warming
solutions for America.
It's too late to start your own program, but maybe someone is holding
one near you.
http://www.focusthenation.org/
--------
>> "Six Degrees" on National Geographic Channel
I spotted yesterday that this program is going to be shown soon on
the NG Channel.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/sixdegrees/?nav=NG
C-Main_DL1
I haven't read the book it's based upon, but it seems like it should be
interesting.
--------
>> Campus Ecology by the National Wildlife Federation
Speaking of campus initiatives, the report at this link really looks
useful to me. I know I'm interested in how museums deal with this as
well. Maybe this will be of some use for them as well? I'm sure that if
a museum is going to do green programming they're going to need to
worry about their own "house" too.
Higher Education in a Warming World
http://www.nwf.org/campusEcology/BusinessCase/index.cfm
-----
>> For Quick Action Programs -- Just "crop" your carbon....
You might find Alison Gannett interesting even beyond her extreme
skiing abilities. In our Climate Project reunions this year, we're
inviting her to visit to talk about her CROP program. It stands for
Calculate your carbon footprint, Reduce your carbon footprint, Offset
your carbon footprint, and Produce your own power. She has several
others programs too. If you're looking for a public speaker you might
like to invite her.
http://www.alisongannett.com/index2.php
-----
>> For Even Quicker Action -- Watch what you eat....
I had a college student come up to me after a talk going on and on
about the food we eat. I listened, but never looked into it carefully. A
recent NY Times article really brought the problem home to me.
Here's just one take away from this article:
"Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the
University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce
meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched
from a standard sedan a Camry, say to the ultra-efficient Prius."
Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?ex
=1359090000&en=a9d80925d175d1b2&ei=5124&partner=permalink
&exprod=permalink
-----
>> Climate Network -- The International View
"The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a worldwide network of over
430 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working to promote
government and individual action to limit human-induced climate
change to ecologically sustainable levels."
I found this organization to be a good source of reports from Bali.
http://www.climatenetwork.org/
-----
>> Understanding Climate Models for Education
This is a nice article to give perspective on the climate modeling our
educational programming depends upon.
The Yale Media forum is also an excellent way to keep up with this
subject in the media.
http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/dept/0108_modeling.htm
-----
>> Finally, The Reading Corner....
"What We Know About Climate Change"
Kerry Emanuel
Afterword by Judith A. Layzer and William R. Moomaw
----------------------
2 January 2008
Happy New Year!
I've collected several more interesting links and resources over the
past month or so. I hope you had a good holidays....
Check these out:
1) I've read Spencer Weart's book on the history of the discovery of
global warming. The good news, however, is that he has an even
better version including other files online.
http://www.aip.org/history/climate/
----------
2) The Pew Center has some interesting statistics on opinions.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/282/global-warming-a-divide-on-causes-
and-solutions
----------
3) This link is maybe worth repeating. I know I've referred it frequently
to people who ask second-order questions about climate change.
New Scientist's Guide for the Perplexed:
environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn11462
-----------
4) Climate Program Office NOAA. If you don't keep up to date with
this site, you should. It's an important portal into climate literacy
programming.
http://www.climate.noaa.gov/index.jsp
------------
5) Just Imagine Video. Can't remember who sent me this, but it's a
fascinating thing to watch.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2007/11/26/just.imagi
ne.doc.part.c.cnn
----
6) "Break Through" is a book I just read. In 2004, the authors Ted
Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger started a debate with their
essay "The Death of Environmentalism." Here'e a link that can bring
you up today with what they're talking about.
"Journalism professor Michael Pollan talks to the authors about their
new book, Break Through -- a conversation about how best to
address the threat of global warming and the larger failure of
American liberalism to reinvent itself. Sponsored by The Knight
Program in Science & Environmental Journalism"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwIW6LmEDAU
----
7) Well, I promised not to bring too much politics to this, but I am very
proud of my senator and how can talk about the climate challenge.
See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwH9DWT3AzY
----
8) Quantitative Reasoning.... I used to teach it and think it's critical in
many areas to understand problems. Ran across this this morning
and think it's a good way to get one's head around the questions of
developed and undeveloped parts of the world.
What's Your Consumption Factor?
By JARED DIAMOND
Published: January 2, 2008
The world has serious consumption problems, but we can solve them
if we choose to do so.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/opinion/02diamond.html?ex=135
6930000&en=07a742d70360f175&ei=5124&partner=permalink&expr
od=permalink
-----
9) "We are a Force of Nature...." On a less serious note, here's
something I'm just going to have to get for my Nintendo DS to take
out my frustrations. It's amazingly twisted. Maybe there'll be a climate
version too.
Become the Master of Disaster!
Some people predict the weather, now you can create it. Use Mother
Nature to create, control, destroy and exact revenge using all of the
awesome forces of nature at your disposal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmdZZDxe1yY
=============
12/6/07
This dispatch has grown a bit longer than I might normally have sent
your way, but there are so many intriguing resources for people like
us I really couldn't hold back. They're all really worth looking at,
especially some of the videos.
The reports are good too, if only for reference. I particularly think that
the McKinsey Report will be useful to programs that deal with the
economics of meeting goals. I know economics discussions often
come up when I speak with adults about this subject.
Here goes:
-------
Here's a short video that won the Ecospot Award. I recently showed it
to some college students who insisted I show it again. It also makes
a great quantitative point too:
http://current.com/items/87610321_ecospot_grand_prize_winner_sky
_is_falling
-----
McKinsey Report on Carbon Reductions
Any serious discussion of the costs and strategies for carbon
reductions will find this very useful and informative. It got some press
you might have seen in the past week. I just went through the
executive report version:
http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/greenhousegas.asp
-----------
My Carbon Bathtub Runneth Over....
I liked this video and found the simulation quite useful. I think folks at
Schlumberger (sp?) put it together. It could be useful for some groups
where you need to illustrate rate changes on a reservoir, in this case
a bathtub. I'm not so sure about all the dials and graphs would be
appropriate for all audiences, but it sure is enlightening.
Video itself:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8235725143334110601&pr
=goog-sl
Simulation:
http://www.sustainer.org/tools_resources/climatebathtubsim.html
----------
THANK YOU DAVID!
David McConville is a constant source of inspiration to me as well as
great links, including the former. Here's a few he just sent you'll want
to check out, especially if you want to think of ways to use this topic
in educational settings.
http://www.bigpicturesmallworld.com/index.shtml
http://challenge.bfi.org/reference/
Also, see "Climate Alive!," a video he co-produced which features
him and his small digital dome programs.
http://www.americangreen.tv
---------
David was also kind enough to pass this valuable reference link on
as well to a massive guide that could be a good reference.
The Red Cross/ Red Crescent Climate Guide presents five years of
experiences from more than 30 Red Cross and Red Crescent
National Societies, in particular in developing countries. It tells the
many stories of Red Cross/Red Crescent staff and volunteers all
around the world on how they try to understand and address the risks
of climate change.
The guide begins with the basics about climate change: the scientific
consensus, the humanitarian consequences, and the general
implications for the Red Cross and Red Crescent. This is followed by
six thematic modules: Getting started, Dialogues, Communications,
Disaster management, Community-based disaster risk reduction and
Health. Each module begins with a background section with real-life
Red Cross and Red Crescent experiences and perspectives, followed
by a "how-to" section with specific step-by-step guidance.
The 140-page guide is available in English; versions in French,
Spanish and Arabic will be available shortly.
www.climatecentre.org/downloads/File/reports/RCRC_climateguide.p
df
------
Quantifying "Personal" CO2 Emissions.
Finally, here's a little estimation exercise. You probably don't want to
hold your breath over all this. I recently had a college student say to
me that CO2 emissions were, of course, natural and that we exhaled
a significant fraction of the CO2 emissions we were responsible for.
Well, I couldn't pass up the chance to teach him a quantitative, as
well as climate, lesson. Here's a page of the estimation spread sheet
I made. It should be obvious what I'm doing. BTW, if anyone finds a
fault in this, please let me know and I'll straighten it out. I also didn't
hesitate to clear up his confusion about the difference of carbon from
fossil fuel reservoirs, versus the natural, living bio-reservoir we're a
part of. I did that by asking him to figure out where the carbon in his
breath came from.
The answer comes out to be 52 kg, less than 1% of the typical
American's CO2 footprint! So, you don't need to hold your breath to
make a big impact.
===================
17 November 2007
Here are a few links you might find interesting or helpful. Those of
you who've received earlier versions of these emails know that I aim
to share URLs that lead to practically useful or intriguing information
and presentations. (Again, if you want to be left off, let me know and
I'll remove your address from the list.)
1. IPCC - 4: It's now out, the final, synthesis report from the
International Panel on Climate Change. If you read only one
background piece on this subject, this is what you should look at. The
link is on the following home page. (For those planetarium people on
this list you'll recognize Valencia, Spain, a place many of us know
well.)
http://www.ipcc.ch/
2. Miniature Earth. It's so hard to help people appreciate the scales
and times involved with the universe or even our home planet. I know
I find that to be true in all my astronomical presentations and climate
talks. But are there better ways to help audiences understand the
human world? This following little online presentation was just sent to
me and it really helps me understand our billions of fellow space
travelers. Maybe it will for you too.
http://www.miniature-earth.com/me_english.htm
3. Logical Argument Video. This is an interesting little exposition of
the logic of the decisions we make in the face of climate science and
outcome uncertainties. It's called the "Most Terrifying Video You'll
Ever See," but that title is a bit misleading. The presenter gives a
short "chalk-talk" that could be useful when teaching and would work
well on the back of a napkin too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDsIFspVzfI
====================
29 October 2007
I just caught up with a couple recent documents from James Hansen
of GISS at Columbia University.
When I give climate talks, people often ask me how they can best
help. I always help them understand the personal actions they can
take, but I also underscore the critical importance of controlling coal
emissions.
A couple recently posted documents by James Hansen can help us
understand this issue.
"By far the most important action is the "coal" solution, specifically an
immediate moratorium in the West (developed countries) on new
coal-fired power plants without CO2-capture, and phase-out of such
existing power plants (or installation of carbon capture) over the next
several decades. Within a decade or less a similar moratorium will be
needed in developing countries." -- James Hansen
Here are his two files:
1) All CO2 molecules are not created equal:
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/distro_OldKingCoalII_70730.pdf
2) Hansen's testimony in Iowa Coal Case:
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/IowaCoal_071022.pdf
These are very useful documents and get to the heart of the issue of
solutions and action. If you don't have a chance to look at them now,
you might want to download them for later.
======================
24 October 2007
For those of you who are involved in communicating directly with the
public and also helping them understand the news, you may find the
following forum interesting and useful. The links to the articles alone
make it worth the click of your mouse.
The Yale Climate Media Forum
"The Yale Forum will help to expand and enrich this ongoing dialogue
between science, policymakers, the media, and the general public.
As a virtual community of climate scientists, reporters, editors,
educators, and the public, The Yale Forum will strive not just to keep
abreast of ongoing science, policy, and media events, but to get
ahead of them, and, where appropriate, help lead them."
See: http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/index.htm"
---------
This is a great link to various climate curricula from Purdue
University:
http://www.agry.purdue.edu/climate/Climatechange/Curriculum2.doc
---------
Finally, here is the link to an article just published by the National
Academy of Sciences. It has an thorough discussion about the rate of
increase in carbon emissions. Here's a quote from the abstract: "CO2
emissions from fossil-fuel burning and industrial processes have
been accelerating at a global scale, with their growth rate increasing
from 1.1% /y for 19901999 to >3% /y for 20002004. "
It's technical, but very important:
www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0700609104
===================
17 October 2007
Dear Informal Education Friends,
I don't normally send out such frequent emails on climate change, but
I ran across a couple useful references the last couple days I thought
I'd better share before I forget.
1) Communicating and Learning About Climate Change -- This from
the 2061 folks at the AAAS. It should be extremely useful for anyone
who wants to make standards-based climate change programs.
Maybe most of you know about it, but I just read through it for the first
time yesterday and it should be very useful starting point for any
programs you might create.
http://www.aaas.org/news/press_room/climate_change/mtg_200702/
climate_change_guide_2061.pdf
2) Presidential Candidates on Climate Change:
This is a really useful table from today's NYTimes. I don't spend lots
of time on politics with these postings, but the next election will be a
big deal. This reference will help you compare and contrast all the
current candidates:
http://politics.nytimes.com/election-
guide/2008/issues/climate/index.html
3) Americans and Climate Change:
This is an interesting book that looks at American attitudes around
this issue. It's a pretty useful reference on the social issues related to
climate literacy.
http://environment.yale.edu/climate/americans_and_climate_change.
pdf
==================
15 October 2007
The first is a Podcast of a recent presentation in Minneapolis. It was
by Frank Niepold from NOAA. The reason it should be interesting to
all of us is that he's a member of an important group that is pushing
federal programs on Climate Literacy, which could also mean
targeted federal funding in next year's budget. Frank is in the lead on
this and an important person to listen to. Here's what he presented:
Taking a Global Temperature: A Case for Climate Literacy in the 21st
Century
Presented by Frank Niepold, Climate Education Coordinator at
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Tuesday, October 2, 7:00PM
Scroll down a bit to download the audio at:
http://www.friendsofmpl.org/events_listen.html
---
Next, I've had a colleague who asked me about a recent letter sent to
many academic scientists from a former head of the National
Academy of Sciences. It's about something called the Oregon
Petition. You might want to look into what this is about, since you
might be receiving a letter soon and will want to understand what
these nay-sayers are thinking about.
Here's the link and discussion.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=480
=====================
10 July 2007
I know that probably no one on this list will be able to attend the
Australian panel discussion.
Glen was kind enough to send me an article on the BBC program
"The Climate Swindle." Here's the link.
http://www.amos.org.au/BAMOS_GGWS_SUBMISSION_final.htm
====================
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