Published on Friday, December 26, 2008 by The Washington Post
by Juliet Eilperin
Friday, December 26, 2008
Faster Climate Change Feared
The United States faces the possibility of much more rapid climate change by the end of the century than previous studies have suggested, according to a new report led by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Ice sheets in the Antarctic and Greenland, above, are losing 48 cubic miles per year, pushing up sea level worldwide. (By John Mcconnico -- Associated Press)The survey -- which was commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and issued this month -- expands on the 2007 findings of the United Nations Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change. Looking at factors such as rapid sea ice loss in the Arctic and prolonged drought in the Southwest, the new assessment suggests that earlier projections may have underestimated the climatic shifts that could take place by 2100.
However, the assessment also suggests that some other feared effects of global warming are not likely to occur by the end of the century, such as an abrupt release of methane from the seabed and permafrost or a shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean circulation system that brings warm water north and colder water south. But the report projects an amount of potential sea level rise during that period that may be greater than what other researchers have anticipated, as well as a shift to a more arid climate pattern in the Southwest by mid-century.
Thirty-two scientists from federal and non-federal institutions contributed to the report, which took nearly two years to complete. The Climate Change Science Program, which was established in 1990, coordinates the climate research of 13 different federal agencies.
Tom Armstrong, senior adviser for global change programs at USGS, said the report "shows how quickly the information is advancing" on potential climate shifts. The prospect of abrupt climate change, he said, "is one of those things that keeps people up at night, because it's a low-probability but high-risk scenario. It's unlikely to happen in our lifetimes, but if it were to occur, it would be life-changing."
In one of the report's most worrisome findings, the agency estimates that in light of recent ice sheet melting, global sea level rise could be as much as four feet by 2100. The IPCC had projected a sea level rise of no more than 1.5 feet by that time, but satellite data over the past two years show the world's major ice sheets are melting much more rapidly than previously thought. The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are now losing an average of 48 cubic miles of ice a year, equivalent to twice the amount of ice that exists in the Alps.
Konrad Steffen, who directs the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder and was lead author on the report's chapter on ice sheets, said the models the IPCC used did not factor in some of the dynamics that scientists now understand about ice sheet melting. Among other things, Steffen and his collaborators have identified a process of "lubrication," in which warmer ocean water gets in underneath coastal ice sheets and accelerates melting.
"This has to be put into models," said Steffen, who organized a conference last summer in St. Petersburg, Russia, as part of an effort to develop more sophisticated ice sheet models. "What we predicted is sea level rise will be higher, but I have to be honest, we cannot model it for 2100 yet."
Still, Armstrong said, the report "does take a step forward from where the IPCC was," especially in terms of ice sheet melting.
Scientists also looked at the prospect of prolonged drought over the next 100 years. They said it is impossible to determine yet whether human activity is responsible for the drought the Southwestern United States has experienced over the past decade, but every indication suggests the region will become consistently drier in the next several decades. Richard Seager, a senior research scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said that nearly all of the 24 computer models the group surveyed project the same climatic conditions for the North American Southwest, which includes Mexico.
"If the models are correct, it will transition in the coming years and decades to a more arid climate, and that transition is already underway," Seager said, adding that such conditions would probably include prolonged droughts lasting more than a decade.
The current models cover broad swaths of landscape, and Seager said scientists need to work on developing versions that can make projections on a much smaller scale. "That's what the water managers out there really need," he said. Current models "don't give them the hard numbers they need."
Armstrong said the need for "downscaled models" is one of the challenges facing the federal government, along with better coordination among agencies on the issue of climate change. When it comes to abrupt climate shifts, he said, "We need to be prepared to deal with it in terms of policymaking, keeping in mind it's a low-probability, high-risk scenario. That said, there are really no policies in place to deal with abrupt climate change."
Richard Moss, who directed the Climate Change Science Program's coordination office between 2000 and 2006 and now serves as vice president and managing director for climate change at the World Wildlife Fund-U.S., welcomed the new report but called it "way overdue."
"There is finally a greater flow of climate science from the administration," Moss said, noting that the report was originally scheduled to come out in the summer of 2007. "It really is showing the potential for abrupt climate change is real."
The report is reassuring, however, on the prospects for some potentially drastic effects -- such as a huge release of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas, that is now locked deep in the seabed and underneath the Arctic permafrost. That is unlikely to occur in the near future, the scientists said.
"It's unlikely that we're going to see an abrupt change in methane over the next hundred years, but we should worry about it over a longer time frame," said Ed Brook, the lead author of the methane chapter and a geosciences professor at Oregon State University. "All of these places where methane is stored are vulnerable to leaking."
By the end the century, Brook said, the amount of methane escaping from natural sources such as the Arctic tundra and waterlogged soils in warmer regions "could possibly double," but that would still be less than the current level of human-generated methane emissions. Over the course of the next thousand years, he added, methane hydrates stored deep in the seabed could be released: "Once you start melting there, you can't really take it back."
In the near term, Brook said, more precise monitoring of methane levels worldwide would give researchers a better sense of the risk of a bigger atmospheric release. "We don't know exactly how much methane is coming out all over the world," he said. "That's why monitoring is important."
While predictions remain uncertain, Steffen said cutting emissions linked to global warming represents one of the best strategies for averting catastrophic changes.
"We have to act very fast, by understanding better and by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, because it's a large-scale experiment that can get out of hand," Steffen said. "So we don't want that to happen."
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
A Call to Action
This is an abridged excerpt from an article by Teressa Kerry in "Healthy Choices Lives" by the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Teresa Kerry is a co-author of "This Moment on Earth"
Just as we human beings must increasingly recognize that we are all internalized into the total environment, we need to understand, too, that the environment itself is internalized, for good and for bad, in us as humans.
What we as individuals do matters, and it matters a lot. I'm a strong believer in the importance of practical actions we each can take. And I believe, too, that we must not allow the pursuit of perfection to impede our commitment to progress.
We must appreciate that our actions may forever be based on incomplete knowledge of all there is to know about the potential effects of the thousands of potential chemical contaminants, and the thousands of various chemical combinations to which our bodies are unwilling hosts. Gertrude Stein cautioned us that "Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." That's even truer today, and it's critical that we retain our common sense and good judgement.
Having said that, we must also appreciate that the so-called "command-and-control" era has peaked, perhaps even run its course. We simply no longer have the time or resources to expend on programs that in the end might do more than fatten lawyers' wallets than they do to reduce our own toxic exposures and risks.
In that context, our next era of sound environmentalism must be based, like other good public policy efforts, on increased collaboration, among a growing cadre of informed and enlightened interests. It clearly must be based also on prevention and not just after-the-exposure remedial efforts to control potentially harmful exposures.
A recent Business Week cover story tells us that we are "closer than you think" to a world in which "socially responsible and eco-friendly practices actually boost a company's bottom line." Those same practices will boost an entire society's bottom line, not only from a financial, but also from an overall perspective. In this sense, we as a society should move not from the "cradle-to-grave" philosophy that became popular in 1990's, but rather to a "cradle-to-cradle" approach that can lead to an infinite product life cycle of ongoing use and usefulness.
We must realize not only that we as citizens have a "right to know", but also that our governmental leaders have a profound responsibility to tell us more about the chemicals that pervade our society. Here, we must be careful consumers, with a healthy skepticism of what both government and manufacturers tell us. With our right to know comes our responsibility to understand.
Collaboration, again, is the key. There is much we can do together. But we dare not wait or procrastinate before also taking constructive individual actions to manage our own, and our families' adverse chemical exposures.
TASKS:
1. Write the three main ideas of this article
2. Why does the author believe in an individual action? Is it enough?
3. Explain the expressions: internalize, practical action, pursuit to perfection, commitment to progress, potential effects, unwilling hosts, common sense, good judgement, command-and-control, run its course, fatten lawyers' wallets, sound environmentalism, public policy, increased collaboration, enlightened interests, remedial efforts, socially responsible practices, eco-friendly practices, bottom line, cradle-to-grave, cradle-to-cradle, right to know, healthy skepticism,
Just as we human beings must increasingly recognize that we are all internalized into the total environment, we need to understand, too, that the environment itself is internalized, for good and for bad, in us as humans.
What we as individuals do matters, and it matters a lot. I'm a strong believer in the importance of practical actions we each can take. And I believe, too, that we must not allow the pursuit of perfection to impede our commitment to progress.
We must appreciate that our actions may forever be based on incomplete knowledge of all there is to know about the potential effects of the thousands of potential chemical contaminants, and the thousands of various chemical combinations to which our bodies are unwilling hosts. Gertrude Stein cautioned us that "Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." That's even truer today, and it's critical that we retain our common sense and good judgement.
Having said that, we must also appreciate that the so-called "command-and-control" era has peaked, perhaps even run its course. We simply no longer have the time or resources to expend on programs that in the end might do more than fatten lawyers' wallets than they do to reduce our own toxic exposures and risks.
In that context, our next era of sound environmentalism must be based, like other good public policy efforts, on increased collaboration, among a growing cadre of informed and enlightened interests. It clearly must be based also on prevention and not just after-the-exposure remedial efforts to control potentially harmful exposures.
A recent Business Week cover story tells us that we are "closer than you think" to a world in which "socially responsible and eco-friendly practices actually boost a company's bottom line." Those same practices will boost an entire society's bottom line, not only from a financial, but also from an overall perspective. In this sense, we as a society should move not from the "cradle-to-grave" philosophy that became popular in 1990's, but rather to a "cradle-to-cradle" approach that can lead to an infinite product life cycle of ongoing use and usefulness.
We must realize not only that we as citizens have a "right to know", but also that our governmental leaders have a profound responsibility to tell us more about the chemicals that pervade our society. Here, we must be careful consumers, with a healthy skepticism of what both government and manufacturers tell us. With our right to know comes our responsibility to understand.
Collaboration, again, is the key. There is much we can do together. But we dare not wait or procrastinate before also taking constructive individual actions to manage our own, and our families' adverse chemical exposures.
TASKS:
1. Write the three main ideas of this article
2. Why does the author believe in an individual action? Is it enough?
3. Explain the expressions: internalize, practical action, pursuit to perfection, commitment to progress, potential effects, unwilling hosts, common sense, good judgement, command-and-control, run its course, fatten lawyers' wallets, sound environmentalism, public policy, increased collaboration, enlightened interests, remedial efforts, socially responsible practices, eco-friendly practices, bottom line, cradle-to-grave, cradle-to-cradle, right to know, healthy skepticism,
Toronto's Air Pollution Harms Thousands of Residents
Air pollution causes reduced lung function, asthma attacks, emergency room visits, lung cancer, high blood pressure and reduced life expectancy.
The Toronto data show that compared with 27 cities over a ten-year period, the city's nitrogen dioxide levels were the fourth highest, exceeded only by Los Angeles, Hong Kong and New York. Increases in nitrogen dioxide levels in Toronto coincided with increased vehicle use and a decline in the use of public transit. A study released by Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Toronto's Acting Medical Officer of Health, identifies the city's transportation sector as the most significant source of pollution.
The study estimates that five common air pollutants contribute to about 1,700 premature deaths and 6,000 hospital admissions in Toronto each year.
In Toronto, exposure to fine particles in the air contributes to about 6,000 emergency room visits, 12,000 cases of childhood bronchitis and 72,000 days of asthma symptoms each year.
TASKS:
1. Name some air pollutants. Find a map of the GTA showing air pollution by the ward.
2. Debate pros/cons of the public transit.
3. Compare the public transit in your country with the one in Toronto.
4. Write a letter to the TTC.
5. Come up with some suggestions for air quality standards in Toronto.
The Toronto data show that compared with 27 cities over a ten-year period, the city's nitrogen dioxide levels were the fourth highest, exceeded only by Los Angeles, Hong Kong and New York. Increases in nitrogen dioxide levels in Toronto coincided with increased vehicle use and a decline in the use of public transit. A study released by Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Toronto's Acting Medical Officer of Health, identifies the city's transportation sector as the most significant source of pollution.
The study estimates that five common air pollutants contribute to about 1,700 premature deaths and 6,000 hospital admissions in Toronto each year.
In Toronto, exposure to fine particles in the air contributes to about 6,000 emergency room visits, 12,000 cases of childhood bronchitis and 72,000 days of asthma symptoms each year.
TASKS:
1. Name some air pollutants. Find a map of the GTA showing air pollution by the ward.
2. Debate pros/cons of the public transit.
3. Compare the public transit in your country with the one in Toronto.
4. Write a letter to the TTC.
5. Come up with some suggestions for air quality standards in Toronto.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Meat Production and Climate Change
"Livestock production accounts for 30% of the entire land surface of the planet - equaling 33% of all arable land, and an even larger area devoted to grazing!"
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Toronto Vegetarian Association wants meat consumption to become a higher priority environmental issue given its proven link to climate change. A growing body of research supports the grave environmental costs of meat production:
Raising livestock for food emits more greenhouse gases than all of the world's cars and trucks.
The UN FAO calls the meat industry "one of the most significant contributors to the world's environmental problems", including acid rain, deforestation and water and land pollution.
Going vegetarian would eliminate 1.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent gas emissions per person, per year - an even bigger difference than switching from a SUV to a hybrid.
EXERCISES:
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Toronto Vegetarian Association wants meat consumption to become a higher priority environmental issue given its proven link to climate change. A growing body of research supports the grave environmental costs of meat production:
Raising livestock for food emits more greenhouse gases than all of the world's cars and trucks.
The UN FAO calls the meat industry "one of the most significant contributors to the world's environmental problems", including acid rain, deforestation and water and land pollution.
Going vegetarian would eliminate 1.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent gas emissions per person, per year - an even bigger difference than switching from a SUV to a hybrid.
EXERCISES:
- What do the following eat: 1. carnivores, 2. omnivores,3. fructivores, 4. localvores, 5. pescavores, 6. vegetarians, 7. vegans,8. flexitarians, 9. freegans, 10. raw foodists, 11. slow foodists?
ANSWERS:1. meat, 2. all, 3. fruit, 4. local food, 5. fish, 6. no meat or fish, 7. no animal products (like milk or eggs), 8. meat only occasionaly, 9. food they get for free, 10. uncooked food, 11. food that is cooked slowly (as opposed to fast food).
Who are they: gourmands, epicures, connoisseurs, gluttons,orthorexics, gastronomes, chefs? Complete the list with more names for people who eat different foods in different ways. Use a thesaurus. - Debate pro/con vegetarianism.
- Share vegetarian recipes.
- Count nutritional value of a regular meat-potato lunch as compared to a balanced vegetarian course.
- Check http://www.amazon.ca/ for vegan/vegetarian cookbooks.
- Check lifestyle magazines for trends in fine dining.
How Green Is Your Food?
Credit for this quiz goes to the Lifelines,the Voice of the Toronto Vegetarian Association.
1. The energy used to import a kilogram of fresh spinach from California to the UK is equivalent to running a 100 watt light bulb for:
a. 1 year
b. 1 month
c. 2 weeks
d. 1 week
2. It takes 3.5 times as much of what to produce a litre of non-organic milk compared to a litre of organic milk:
a. energy
b. water
c. fertilizer
d. land
3. A typical British family of four emits 4.2 tonnes of CO2 from their house each year and 4.4 tonnes from their car. How much is emitted from the production, packaging and distribution of the food they eat?
a. 1 tonne
b. 2 tonnes
c. 4 tonnes
d. 8 tonnes
ANSWERS:
1B
2A - Organic milk comes from cows which are fed on pasture which is not treated with fertilizers and pesticides. Much of the extra energy used in the production of non-organic milk is energy used in the production of the fertilizer.
3D.
1. The energy used to import a kilogram of fresh spinach from California to the UK is equivalent to running a 100 watt light bulb for:
a. 1 year
b. 1 month
c. 2 weeks
d. 1 week
2. It takes 3.5 times as much of what to produce a litre of non-organic milk compared to a litre of organic milk:
a. energy
b. water
c. fertilizer
d. land
3. A typical British family of four emits 4.2 tonnes of CO2 from their house each year and 4.4 tonnes from their car. How much is emitted from the production, packaging and distribution of the food they eat?
a. 1 tonne
b. 2 tonnes
c. 4 tonnes
d. 8 tonnes
ANSWERS:
1B
2A - Organic milk comes from cows which are fed on pasture which is not treated with fertilizers and pesticides. Much of the extra energy used in the production of non-organic milk is energy used in the production of the fertilizer.
3D.
Winds of Change Blowing, but Resistance Gusting
This is an abridged article by Christopher Hume, from Toronto Star of 28 November 2008.
Suddenly, it seems the future has come to Toronto.
Whether we're talking about wind turbines in Lake Ontario, fees for plastic bags, garbage levies, bans on bottled water or fully recyclable coffee cups, Torontonians are having hard time adjusting to the realities of the 21st century.
As tough as change may be, there's no longer any choice.
Isn't that the lesson of the environmental crisis, global warming, not to mention the current economic meltdown? Isn't that the inescapable conclusion of everything we have been told for the past few decades?
The collapse has happened; we have no alternative but to reinvent our world. And if not our world, certainly our cities.
Yet, a good many of us prefer things just the way they are. Change is good, they say, as long as it means we don't have to do anything differently. Convenience? Unfortunately, the problem for those of us who live in developed countries such as Canada is that convenience is no longer convenient.
Suddenly, it seems the future has come to Toronto.
Whether we're talking about wind turbines in Lake Ontario, fees for plastic bags, garbage levies, bans on bottled water or fully recyclable coffee cups, Torontonians are having hard time adjusting to the realities of the 21st century.
As tough as change may be, there's no longer any choice.
Isn't that the lesson of the environmental crisis, global warming, not to mention the current economic meltdown? Isn't that the inescapable conclusion of everything we have been told for the past few decades?
The collapse has happened; we have no alternative but to reinvent our world. And if not our world, certainly our cities.
Yet, a good many of us prefer things just the way they are. Change is good, they say, as long as it means we don't have to do anything differently. Convenience? Unfortunately, the problem for those of us who live in developed countries such as Canada is that convenience is no longer convenient.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Emerson on Nature
The Supreme Critic on the errors of the past and the present, and the only prophet of that which must be, is that great nature in which we rest as the earth lies in the soft arms of the atmosphere; that Unity, that Over-Soul within which every man’s particular being is contained and made one with all other; that common heart of which all sincere conversation is the worship, to which all right action is submission; that overpowering reality which confutes our tricks and talents, and constraints everyone to pass for what he is, and to speak from his character and not from his tongue, and which evermore tends to pass into our thought and hand and become wisdom and virtue and power and beauty.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Over-Soul
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Over-Soul
Greenhouse Effect
INSERT A PREPOSITION:
Not long ago the talking ________ weather was mostly just small talk, but these days it's taking a more serious turn. There's something ______ the air.
You can't see it, most of the time you can't feel it, but air _______ us is changing ____ a quiet, but dramatic way.
The way we live is changing the composition ____ the atmosphere and our climate and local weather pattern are changing ______ it.
We burn fossil fuels to produce energy: coal, oil and natural gas and it's increasing the carbon dioxide _____ the atmosphere.
This process is raising the temperature _____ the planet. We call this warming action greenhouse effect.
SOLUTION: about, in, around, in, of, with, in, of
Not long ago the talking ________ weather was mostly just small talk, but these days it's taking a more serious turn. There's something ______ the air.
You can't see it, most of the time you can't feel it, but air _______ us is changing ____ a quiet, but dramatic way.
The way we live is changing the composition ____ the atmosphere and our climate and local weather pattern are changing ______ it.
We burn fossil fuels to produce energy: coal, oil and natural gas and it's increasing the carbon dioxide _____ the atmosphere.
This process is raising the temperature _____ the planet. We call this warming action greenhouse effect.
SOLUTION: about, in, around, in, of, with, in, of
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Are You Able or Unable?
Recycle paper at your centre?
Use both sides for photocopying?
Compost?
Turn off lights when you are not in the room?
Turn off computers at the end of the day?
Use biodegradable dishwashers and toilet cleaners?
Eliminate styrofoam cups and plates?
Eliminate plastic cutlery?
Eliminate white boards / markers?
Adjust the thermostat by 1 degree down in winter and 1 degree up in summer?
Use both sides for photocopying?
Compost?
Turn off lights when you are not in the room?
Turn off computers at the end of the day?
Use biodegradable dishwashers and toilet cleaners?
Eliminate styrofoam cups and plates?
Eliminate plastic cutlery?
Eliminate white boards / markers?
Adjust the thermostat by 1 degree down in winter and 1 degree up in summer?
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR GREEN BOOKWORMS
Rick Smith, Bruce Lourie: Slow Death by Rubber Duck (Alfred A.Knopf Canada, 2009)
Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, John Peterson Myers: Our Stolen Future
Stacy Malkan: Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry
George Monbiot: Heat (Penguin Press, 2006) Read why we cannot surpass 2 degrees C.
David Steinman: Safe Trip to Eden, 10 Ways to Save the World from a Global Warming Meltdown (Freedom Press)
John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry: This Moment on Earth, Today’s Environmentalists and their Vision for the Future (People from all walks of life, without concern for party or ideological lines, are coming together in unprecedented numbers across the globe) Perseus Books Group, 2007
Theodore Roszak: The Voice of the Earth
Marla Cone: Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic (Grove Press, NY 2005)
Maude Barlow: Blue Gold (the Chairperson of The Council of Canadians on the world water crisis, a must read for every Canadian!)
Thom Hartmann: The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight (about our dependence on fossil fuels and new economy perspectives)
Guy Dauncey, Liz Armstrong, Anne Wordsworth: Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic (New Society Publishers)
Sandra Steingraber: Having Faith, An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood
Diane Wilson: An Unreasonable Woman
Rachel Carson: Silent Spring (the American scientist who stands behind the DDT ban, died of breast cancer)
Also authored The Sense of Wonder (lyric prose about nature)
Byron Katie: The Work (the says it all)
Thoreau: Walden (literary classic written by a sage who dismissed teaching)
Grey Owl, Collected Works (an English aristocrat converted into an Ojibway, considered to be the Canadian Conservation Pioneer) Prospero Books, 1999
Joseph Tainter: The Collapse of Complex Societies
Jeanine Benyus: Biomimicry (can biology help new technology to be less heavy on the environment?)
Paul Hawken: Blessed Unrest, How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming (for all of us who are squirreling away in our individual small ways and add up to an irresistible force) Viking, 2007
By the same author (featured in the Eleventh Hour movie):
Natural Capitalism,
The Ecology of Commerce
Growing a Business
Wayne Roberts: The No Nonsense Guide to World Food (the chair of the Toronto Food Policy Council is a compelling author and activist)
Ricky Burdett, Deyan Sudjic: Endless City, An authoritative and visually rich survey of the contemporary city. The late twentieth century was the age of economic globalization.
Adria Vasil: Ecoholic (the NOW Magazine columnist gives practical tips for everyday greener living) Random House 2007
Greentopia, Towards Sustainable Toronto (a collection of articles about Toronto’s past, present and rethinking sustainable future (Coach House)
Green Leaders, Canada’s Environment and Health Resource Directory (2008/09) free at health food stores (produced by Index Media, tel. 416-661-8146
Green Tips, How to Save Money and Planet, a booklet compiled by Gillian Deacon
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Global Warming, digest version (Alpha Books), available at Sobey’s for $3.95 (2008)
Linda Hogan: The Sweet Breathing of Plants: Women and the Green World (2000)
What The Public Doesn’t Get About Climate Change
This is an abridged article from Time magazine, that can work well as a jigsaw reading material. Each group reads one passage and then members of different groups are put together to retell each other what they read. Different questions/tasks can be devised around that.
1. As I report on climate change, I come across a lot of scary facts, like the possibility that thawing permafrost in Siberia could release gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or the risk that Greenland could pass a tipping point and begin to melt rapidly. But one of the most frightening studies I've read recently had nothing to do with icebergs or mega-droughts. In a paper that came out Oct. 23, 2008 in Science, John Sterman — a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) wrote about asking 212 MIT grad students to give a rough idea of how much governments need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by to eventually stop the increase in the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere. These students had training in science, technology, mathematics and economics at one of the best schools in the world — they are probably a lot smarter than you or me. Yet 84% of Sterman's subjects got the question wrong.
2. The study reflects the tremendous gap that exists regarding global warming. On the one hand are the scientists, who with few exceptions think climate change is very serious and needs to be dealt with immediately and ambitiously. On the other side is the public, which increasingly believes that climate change is real and worries about it, but which rarely ranks it as a high priority. A 2007 survey by the U.N. Development Programme found that 54% of Americans have a "wait and see" approach to climate-change action — holding off on the deep and rapid cuts in global warming that would immediately impact their lives. As a result, we have our current dilemma: a steady drumbeat of scientific evidence of global warming's severity and comparatively little in the way of meaningful political action. "This gap exists," says Sterman. "The real question is why."
3. "There is a profound and fundamental misconception about climate," he says. The problem is that most of us don't really understand how carbon accumulates in the atmosphere. Increasing global temperatures are driven by the increase in the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere. Before the industrial age, the concentration was about 280 parts per million (p.p.m.) of carbon in the atmosphere. After a few centuries of burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels, we've raised that concentration to 387 p.p.m., and it continues to rise by about 2 p.p.m. every year. Many scientists believe that we need to at least stabilize carbon concentrations at 450 p.p.m. to ensure that global temperatures don't increase more than about 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. To do that, we need to reduce global carbon emissions (which hit about 10 billion tons last year) until they are equal to or less than the amount of carbon sequestered by the oceans and plant life (4.8 billion tons in the last year). It's just like water in a bathtub — unless more water is draining out than flowing in from the tap, eventually the bathtub will overflow.
4. That means that carbon emissions would need to be cut drastically from current levels. Yet almost all of the subjects in Sterman's study failed to realize that, assuming instead that you could stabilize carbon concentration simply by capping carbon emissions at their current level. That's not the case — and in fact, pursuing such a plan for the future would virtually guarantee that global warming could spin out of control. It may seem to many like good common sense to wait until we see proof of the serious damage global warming is doing before we take action. But it's not — we can't "wait and see" on global warming because the climate has a momentum of its own, and if we wait for decades to finally act to reduce carbon emissions, it could well be too late. Yet this simply isn't understood.
5. If élite scientists could simply solve climate change on their own, public misunderstanding wouldn't be such a problem. But they can't. Reducing carbon emissions sharply will require all 6.5 billion (and growing) of us on the planet to hugely change the way we use energy and travel. We'll also need to change the way we vote, rewarding politicians willing to make the tough choices on climate. Instead of a new Manhattan Project — the metaphor often used for global warming — Sterman believes that what is needed is closer to a new civil rights movement, a large-scale campaign that dramatically changes the public's beliefs and behaviors. New groups like Al Gore's We Campaign are aiming for just such a social transformation, but "the reality is that this is even more difficult than civil rights," says Sterman. "Even that took a long time, and we don't have that kind of time with the climate."
Movies to See
Films with an Environmental Theme
11th Hour
(Leonardo DiCaprio)
Doc
The 11th Hour is the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how we’ve arrived at this moment -- how we live, how we impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course.
Children of Men
(Julianne Moore & Clive Owen)
Feature
2027 is a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate
Dancing with Wolves
(Kevin Costner)
Feature
Civil War soldier befriends wolves and Indians, making him an intolerable aberration in the military
Erin Brockovich
(Julia Roberts)
Feature based on true story
A California power company is accused of polluting a city's water supply
Exposures
Doc
Order from the Women’s Healthy Environment Network, Toronto
Link between the environment and the incidence of breast cancer with women.
Stunning evidences of long delayed truth.
Fly Away Home
(Jeff Daniels & Ana Paquin)
Feature based on true Canadian story
A father and daughter attempt to lead a flock of Canada Geese, orphaned by development, south.
Garbage Warrior
Doc
US architect Michael Reynolds fights to introduce radically sustainable housing.
Happy Feet
Animation
A group of penguins try to discover the threat of their food source and survival.
Inconvenient Truth
(Al Gore)
Doc
Climate crisis/ global-warming
Manufactured Landscapes
Doc
Photographer Edward Burtynsky travels the world observing changes in landscapes due to industrial work and manufacturing.
The Male Disappearing
Doc
The birth rate of male babies is in decrease. A link with the polluted environment is explored.
March of the Penguins
Doc
The annual journey of Emperor penguins as they march to their traditional breeding ground.
Silkwood
(Meryl Streep & Cher)
Feature based on true story
A whistle-blower from a plutonium processing plant disappears.
Sleep Dealer
Feature, 2008
Drama, futuristic sci-fi fantasy, political commentary and ecological message. This film takes you into the near future; into a time and place where the world is physically divided by walls and virtual connect by technology. The story focuses on a young man named Memo, who travels from his rural Mexican village to Tijuana to find work after the corporate privatization of the area’s water makes farming impossible for his family.
Soylent Green
Feature - 1973
In an overpopulated Earth in 2022, a police detective is marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new foodstuff.
The End of Suburbia
Doc
Explores the American Way of Life as the planet approaches a critical era where global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply.
Syriana
(George Clooney)
Feature
Political intrigue & the oil industry
Toxic Trespass
Doc –
Order from the Women’s Healthy Environment Network, Toronto
Essential viewing for anyone concerned about the effects of pollutants on our - and our children's - very DNA.
Winged Migration
Doc
The migratory patterns of birds, shot over the course of three years on all seven continents.
Terminator Seeds
Documentary, 30 min.
Genetically altered seeds cannot reproduce themselves. Will it lead to global famine?
How to Save the World: One Man, One Planet, One Cow
Documentary
Biodynamic farming is a unique agricultural method that relates the ecology of the earth-organism to the entire cosmos.
Food, Inc.
Documentary, directed by Robert Kenner
On how and why the villains not only outnumber the heroes in contemporary food production, but also how and why they outbluff, outmuscle and outspend their opponents by billions of often government-subsidized dollars.
Garbage!, by Andrew Nisker
A Torontonian 5 member family stocks their garbage in their garage for 3 months and surprise themselves and us, while we learn the truth of our wasteful lifestyle.
Chemercial, a new documentary by Andrew Nisker about chemical cleansers in our homes and how we can free our lives from them
The Last Trapper
a feature movie about the last trapper in the Canadian far North, played by himself. See teaching material on a separate blog (23 Sept.2010)
Coral Reef Adventure
Stunningly beautiful underwater world is in danger. Authors investigate how the man has become a tenant in the world ocean. How does coral bleaching affect our very existence?
As a special feature on the DVD there is an interesting Trivia, comprehension questions that will make your students review what they understood in the movie.
Check the trailer at:
www.coralfilm.com
11th Hour
(Leonardo DiCaprio)
Doc
The 11th Hour is the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how we’ve arrived at this moment -- how we live, how we impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course.
Children of Men
(Julianne Moore & Clive Owen)
Feature
2027 is a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate
Dancing with Wolves
(Kevin Costner)
Feature
Civil War soldier befriends wolves and Indians, making him an intolerable aberration in the military
Erin Brockovich
(Julia Roberts)
Feature based on true story
A California power company is accused of polluting a city's water supply
Exposures
Doc
Order from the Women’s Healthy Environment Network, Toronto
Link between the environment and the incidence of breast cancer with women.
Stunning evidences of long delayed truth.
Fly Away Home
(Jeff Daniels & Ana Paquin)
Feature based on true Canadian story
A father and daughter attempt to lead a flock of Canada Geese, orphaned by development, south.
Garbage Warrior
Doc
US architect Michael Reynolds fights to introduce radically sustainable housing.
Happy Feet
Animation
A group of penguins try to discover the threat of their food source and survival.
Inconvenient Truth
(Al Gore)
Doc
Climate crisis/ global-warming
Manufactured Landscapes
Doc
Photographer Edward Burtynsky travels the world observing changes in landscapes due to industrial work and manufacturing.
The Male Disappearing
Doc
The birth rate of male babies is in decrease. A link with the polluted environment is explored.
March of the Penguins
Doc
The annual journey of Emperor penguins as they march to their traditional breeding ground.
Silkwood
(Meryl Streep & Cher)
Feature based on true story
A whistle-blower from a plutonium processing plant disappears.
Sleep Dealer
Feature, 2008
Drama, futuristic sci-fi fantasy, political commentary and ecological message. This film takes you into the near future; into a time and place where the world is physically divided by walls and virtual connect by technology. The story focuses on a young man named Memo, who travels from his rural Mexican village to Tijuana to find work after the corporate privatization of the area’s water makes farming impossible for his family.
Soylent Green
Feature - 1973
In an overpopulated Earth in 2022, a police detective is marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new foodstuff.
The End of Suburbia
Doc
Explores the American Way of Life as the planet approaches a critical era where global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply.
Syriana
(George Clooney)
Feature
Political intrigue & the oil industry
Toxic Trespass
Doc –
Order from the Women’s Healthy Environment Network, Toronto
Essential viewing for anyone concerned about the effects of pollutants on our - and our children's - very DNA.
Winged Migration
Doc
The migratory patterns of birds, shot over the course of three years on all seven continents.
Terminator Seeds
Documentary, 30 min.
Genetically altered seeds cannot reproduce themselves. Will it lead to global famine?
How to Save the World: One Man, One Planet, One Cow
Documentary
Biodynamic farming is a unique agricultural method that relates the ecology of the earth-organism to the entire cosmos.
Food, Inc.
Documentary, directed by Robert Kenner
On how and why the villains not only outnumber the heroes in contemporary food production, but also how and why they outbluff, outmuscle and outspend their opponents by billions of often government-subsidized dollars.
Garbage!, by Andrew Nisker
A Torontonian 5 member family stocks their garbage in their garage for 3 months and surprise themselves and us, while we learn the truth of our wasteful lifestyle.
Chemercial, a new documentary by Andrew Nisker about chemical cleansers in our homes and how we can free our lives from them
The Last Trapper
a feature movie about the last trapper in the Canadian far North, played by himself. See teaching material on a separate blog (23 Sept.2010)
Coral Reef Adventure
Stunningly beautiful underwater world is in danger. Authors investigate how the man has become a tenant in the world ocean. How does coral bleaching affect our very existence?
As a special feature on the DVD there is an interesting Trivia, comprehension questions that will make your students review what they understood in the movie.
Check the trailer at:
www.coralfilm.com
A GREEN COLLAR JOB
G R E E N S O L U T I O N S
Rick Hunter is a green homebuilder. He believes that green is the future of building.
“People are getting excited about green collar jobs. They make people happier about what they’re doing. And you can earn a living.”
Rick uses green products in new construction and renovation. Solar panels in the picture save energy.
What other jobs can be green?
List some construction products that can be green.
Why are green products better? Browse a hardware catalogue and look for better alternatives. Bring some construction products to the classroom and discuss their environmental impact.
Don’t forget, no matter what the smog index is outside, the inner air quality is always worse.
YOUR INPUT…
What green company could you start? What name would you give it?
Write an ad for your company.
GROUP WORK
A. You want to renovate your living room. Make a list of better alternatives for your healthier living and energy conservation.
B. You live in a building. Make a plan how it can be upgraded to be greener.
You are looking for an apartment. Narrow down the list to three that you will consider. Explain your choice.
� It is large and cheap, near a gas station.
� It is near a park, the windows don’t open.
� It is on 22nd floor, it overlooks the lake.
� It is Bullfrog powered, has recycling facility.
� The size and price are attractive, far from the TTC.
� It is reasonably priced, furnished with furniture that you don’t like.
� It has wall-to-wall carpets in all rooms and a daycare in the basement.
� It is near a gym and library, has no parking.
Rick Hunter is a green homebuilder. He believes that green is the future of building.
“People are getting excited about green collar jobs. They make people happier about what they’re doing. And you can earn a living.”
Rick uses green products in new construction and renovation. Solar panels in the picture save energy.
What other jobs can be green?
List some construction products that can be green.
Why are green products better? Browse a hardware catalogue and look for better alternatives. Bring some construction products to the classroom and discuss their environmental impact.
Don’t forget, no matter what the smog index is outside, the inner air quality is always worse.
YOUR INPUT…
What green company could you start? What name would you give it?
Write an ad for your company.
GROUP WORK
A. You want to renovate your living room. Make a list of better alternatives for your healthier living and energy conservation.
B. You live in a building. Make a plan how it can be upgraded to be greener.
You are looking for an apartment. Narrow down the list to three that you will consider. Explain your choice.
� It is large and cheap, near a gas station.
� It is near a park, the windows don’t open.
� It is on 22nd floor, it overlooks the lake.
� It is Bullfrog powered, has recycling facility.
� The size and price are attractive, far from the TTC.
� It is reasonably priced, furnished with furniture that you don’t like.
� It has wall-to-wall carpets in all rooms and a daycare in the basement.
� It is near a gym and library, has no parking.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Eat Local Food
Why Eat Local? 10 Lucky Reasons.
At a farmers’ market, most local produce has been picked inside of 24 hours. It comes to you ripe, fresh, and with its full flavor, unlike supermarket food that may have been picked weeks or months before.
2. Know what you’re eating.
Buying food today is complicated. What pesticides were used? Is that corn genetically modified? Was that chicken free range or did it grow up in a box? People who eat locally find it easier to get answers. Many build relationships with farmers whom they trust. And they can also drive out to the farms and see for themselves.
3. Meet your neighbors.
Local eating is social. People shopping at farmers’ markets have 10 times more conversations than those who shop at the supermarket. Join a community garden and you’ll actually meet the people you pass on the street.
4. Get in touch with the seasons.
When you eat locally, you eat what’s in season. You’ll remember that cherries are the taste of summer. Even in winter, comfort foods like squash soup and pancakes just make a lot more sense than flavourless cherries from the other side of the world.
5. Discover new flavours.
Ever tried artichokes? How about asparagus, quail eggs, cranberries, or fiddleheads? These are just a few of local products. Count the types of apples of Ontario on offer at your supermarket. Maybe two? Small farms are keeping alive more varieties.
6. Explore your home.
Visiting local farms is a way to be a tourist on your own home turf, with plenty of stops for snacks.
7. Save the world.
A study found that a regional diet consumed 17 times less oil and gas than a typical diet based on food shipped across the country.
8. Support small farms.
We discovered that many people from all walks of life dream of working the land–maybe you do, too. In areas with strong local markets, the family farm is alive.
9. Give back to the local economy.
Buying from local food producers keeps the dollar at home, and everybody profits.
10. Be healthy.
We should eat more vegetables and fewer processed products. And more fresh food at its nutritional peak. Eating from farmers’ markets and cooking from scratch will make all the family healthy and happy!
Green Buildings Toronto
Ravina Project
Fill in the gerunds: using, adding, replacing, becoming, living.
The Ravina project is a fascinating experiment in renewable energy and off-grid ______________. It is an 80-year old building in the east, on the verge of _______________ one of the first homes in Toronto using its own resources.
Several upgrades were made, such as _______________ insulation to the attic and basement and ___________________ the old windows with modern double pane glass. It has a computer-controlled boiler using natural gas and operating at an astounding 95% efficiency.
A 1,500-watt solar array on the roof provides power for the house on a daily basis, charges the storage batteries, and exports excess energy into the grid. _________ this house is an experiment that will test new theories that are very promising.
The Ravina project is a fascinating experiment in renewable energy and off-grid ______________. It is an 80-year old building in the east, on the verge of _______________ one of the first homes in Toronto using its own resources.
Several upgrades were made, such as _______________ insulation to the attic and basement and ___________________ the old windows with modern double pane glass. It has a computer-controlled boiler using natural gas and operating at an astounding 95% efficiency.
A 1,500-watt solar array on the roof provides power for the house on a daily basis, charges the storage batteries, and exports excess energy into the grid. _________ this house is an experiment that will test new theories that are very promising.
Green Buildings Toronto
G R E E N
B U I L D I N G S
T O R O N T O
Cecelia Murphy Building
Write words for the numbers in parentheses:
________ (60) solar thermal panels were installed on the roof of ________ (11) Coatsworth Crescent, a ______________________________________ (174) unit
residential building run by Neighbourhood Link Homes. The solar set-up is the largest in Toronto and is expected to generate __________________________________________ _________________________________________ (134,000) kWh of power annually. The solar panels capture the radiant energy of the sun, and use this energy to heat water for showers and sinks in the building. Energy savings are expected to be______________
________________________________ ($ 10,200).
Green Buildings Toronto
G R E E N
B U I L D I N G S
T O R O N T O
Beach Solar Laundromat
Use the Comparative or the Superlative of the adjectives in parentheses:
The Beach Solar Laundromat is located at 2240 Queen Street East, in a 65-year-old building. It houses 21 washers and 14 dryers. The house is far _________________ (efficient) than it was at the time the owner bought it in 2002. After many heating and lighting retrofits, the Laundromat has become one of Toronto’s __________________ (energy efficient) buildings and one of Toronto’s ____________________ (profitable) laundromats.
Eight solar panels on the roof heat water, and the natural gas consumption was reduced by ___________ (much) than 30%. The revenue has grown 200% over 4 years.
A ____________ (high) efficiency lighting system reduced the lighting bill by 72%.
The company was awarded as the _____________ (good) greenhouse gas emission reduction project in Canada in 2004.
The Beach Solar Laundromat is located at 2240 Queen Street East, in a 65-year-old building. It houses 21 washers and 14 dryers. The house is far _________________ (efficient) than it was at the time the owner bought it in 2002. After many heating and lighting retrofits, the Laundromat has become one of Toronto’s __________________ (energy efficient) buildings and one of Toronto’s ____________________ (profitable) laundromats.
Eight solar panels on the roof heat water, and the natural gas consumption was reduced by ___________ (much) than 30%. The revenue has grown 200% over 4 years.
A ____________ (high) efficiency lighting system reduced the lighting bill by 72%.
The company was awarded as the _____________ (good) greenhouse gas emission reduction project in Canada in 2004.
Green Buildings Toronto
G R E E N
B U I L D I N G S
T O R O N T O
401 Richmond
Use the correct passive form of the verbs in parentheses:
401 Richmond is a 200,000 ft2 century-old tin factory that _________ (restore) .The building is home to a thriving community of 130 cultural producers and micro-enterprises.
A courtyard, early learning center, café and stunning roof garden __________ (include). Many of the flowers, vines and bushes ___________ (grow) from seeds. The plants and flowers in the roof garden ________ (select) for beauty, aroma and their ability to attract butterflies, ladybugs, birds and other insects. A roof composter _________ (use) to build up the organic matter for supporting new seeds and potted plants. In 2005 another 2,600 ft2 roof garden _______________ (add) to the deck. Two small 100 ft2 rooftops ____________ (install) on two skylights showing that no roof is too small to green.
The reuse of historic buildings is one of the greenest things ____________ (do).
Saturday, November 1, 2008
They said...
Mother Earth
Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
This we know: the earth does not belong to man – man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family. All things are connected.
Chief Seattle of the Puget Sound Suquamish tribe
Speech given when handing his territory and his people to the sovereignty of the US in 1854
All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. Chief Seattle
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. Chief Seattle
Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. Chief Seattle
It’s the only planet we have got, after all.
William Golding
ABOUT TRUTH
Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or modify the truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man.
M. Gandhi
A man of truth must also be a man of care.
M. Gandhi
Without properly kept accounts it is impossible to maintain truth in its pristine purity.
M. Gandhi
Truth is like a vast tree, which yields more and more fruit, the more you nurture it.
M. Gandhi
FOOD
One cannot live well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. (Virginia Wolf)
Organic food consumption is ecological altruism (David Richard, Taste of Life)
ACTIVISM / TEACHING
Activism is the rent I pay for living on the Earth.
Alice Walker
I touch the future, I teach.
Christa McAuliffe
Do what you love, and then you will not have to work a single day of your life
Confucius
Be a student, not a teacher. Even if you find yourself in the role of teacher, remain a student still, sharing with your friends, simply, fresh insights and discoveries.
Paramahansa Yogananda
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
It is not on you to finish a task, but to begin it.
Talmud
Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
This we know: the earth does not belong to man – man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family. All things are connected.
Chief Seattle of the Puget Sound Suquamish tribe
Speech given when handing his territory and his people to the sovereignty of the US in 1854
All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. Chief Seattle
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. Chief Seattle
Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. Chief Seattle
It’s the only planet we have got, after all.
William Golding
ABOUT TRUTH
Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or modify the truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man.
M. Gandhi
A man of truth must also be a man of care.
M. Gandhi
Without properly kept accounts it is impossible to maintain truth in its pristine purity.
M. Gandhi
Truth is like a vast tree, which yields more and more fruit, the more you nurture it.
M. Gandhi
FOOD
One cannot live well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. (Virginia Wolf)
Organic food consumption is ecological altruism (David Richard, Taste of Life)
ACTIVISM / TEACHING
Activism is the rent I pay for living on the Earth.
Alice Walker
I touch the future, I teach.
Christa McAuliffe
Do what you love, and then you will not have to work a single day of your life
Confucius
Be a student, not a teacher. Even if you find yourself in the role of teacher, remain a student still, sharing with your friends, simply, fresh insights and discoveries.
Paramahansa Yogananda
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
It is not on you to finish a task, but to begin it.
Talmud
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Check this...
www.filmeducation.org/aninconvenienttruth/index.html
http://www.womenshealthyenvironments.ca/
http://www.11thhouraction.com/
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/
http://www.livinglightly.ca/
http://www.earthroots.org/
www.veg.ca/environment (Toronto Vegetarian Association)
http://www.rco.on.ca/ (Recycling Council of Ontario)
www.toronto.ca/livegreen
http://www.environmentaldefence.org/
http://www.environmentalleader.com/ (green business ideas)
http://www.earthhour.org/
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/students/clas_act/haz-ed, /dglossary.htm
www.toxicnation.com
http://chemicalnation.com
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
www.ewg.org
http://www.womenshealthyenvironments.ca/
http://www.11thhouraction.com/
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/
http://www.livinglightly.ca/
http://www.earthroots.org/
www.veg.ca/environment (Toronto Vegetarian Association)
http://www.rco.on.ca/ (Recycling Council of Ontario)
www.toronto.ca/livegreen
http://www.environmentaldefence.org/
http://www.environmentalleader.com/ (green business ideas)
http://www.earthhour.org/
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/students/clas_act/haz-ed, /dglossary.htm
www.toxicnation.com
http://chemicalnation.com
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
www.ewg.org
Welcome!
Hello ESL teachers and other surfers of the Earth! We started this blog with the intention of sharing information and ideas for integrating the theme of the environment in ESL classes, after Anne Cairns and I, Radmila Rakas, presented the Inconvenient Truths workshop at the TESL Ontario conference on 14 and 15 November 2008 in Toronto. Hope you will find it useful. Maybe you'd like to share some ideas with us or let us know what you are doing to green up your school. Thank you for visiting this blog.
Monday, October 27, 2008
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2) Enter:
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POST" button or "Edit Posts" link
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want)
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- For example you can chose "How to" label from the list
that I created already or create a new one.
- If you don't like it, later you can edit the post and
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and the post will immediately appear in the blog
8) To view new post go to the Blog:
http://esl-radmila.blogspot.com
Note: When you create new label you will see it on the
blog left side
STEPS:
1) Go to Login Page: https://www.blogger.com/start
2) Enter:
- Username: radmila.rakas
- Ask Radmila to get the password
3) On the screen that you get either click on the "NEW
POST" button or "Edit Posts" link
4) Click "Posting Tab" and "Create"
5) Enter Title and text (you can paste pics if you
want)
6) Don't forget to enter Label in the "Labels for this
post:" field
- For example you can chose "How to" label from the list
that I created already or create a new one.
- If you don't like it, later you can edit the post and
change whatever you want
7) When you are done, click on the "PUBLISH POST" button
and the post will immediately appear in the blog
8) To view new post go to the Blog:
http://esl-radmila.blogspot.com
Note: When you create new label you will see it on the
blog left side
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