A collaboration of more than 50,000 scientists from 63 nations all turned their attention to the world’s poles. The reason these scientists came together was to measure the effects of climate change through the use of icebreakers, satellites and submarines. They wanted to study everything from exotic marine life swimming and living beneath the Antarctic ice to the effect that solar radiation has on the polar atmosphere.

The International Polar Year creates 228 similar research projects that have an aim of monitoring the health of the Earth’s polar region and what kind of impact global warming has on it. This research project officially began March 1st and will end in 2009, allowing each separate pole to run through a full season of summer and winter. Britain’s chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, called the melting of polar ice “the canary in the coal mine for global warming.”

Antarctic Ice Sheet

This year’s research is being sponsored by the International Council for Science and United Nation’s Meteorological Organization. Most of the $1.5 billion donations has come from pre-existing polar research budgets. British scientists believe that this research project has the potential of revealing the threat the polar world is currently facing. “What’s different this year is not so much the volume of research funding, but more the coordination of research,” said Eric Wolff, a British Antarctic survey scientist.

Other than global warming, the scientists will try the challenge of trying to quantify the amount of fresh water than is currently leaking out from underneath the ice sheets in Antarctica. Because the melting is taking place beneath the ice it is going to make it hard for the scientists to measure. The only way they could succeed in measuring the leakage is if they are going to get a large amount of ships to do the same thing at the same time so that one could get a snapshot of the whole Antarctic.

The scientists are also going to install an Arctic Ocean monitoring system and a census of the deep-sea creatures which populate the bottom of Antarctica’s Southern Ocean. With the use of their telescopes, balloons, and spacecraft, scientists are going to investigate plasma and magnetic fields kicked up by the sun. The dry and clear air found in the polar region is perfect for astronomy. Also, anthropologists are planning to study the culture and politics of the Arctic’s 4 million inhabitants.

Even though there are a lot of different research projects going on they all resort to the same fear that the ice sheet will someday melt away. “We are now on an unsustainable path,” said Corinne Le Quere, a professor at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. “By seeing the changes as they occur in the region where they will be occurring the fastest, the International Polar Year will provide blinding evidence of the human impact on this planet.”

Hopefully, what these scientists prove will be solid evidence of the kind of terrible effect human impact has on the Antarctic ice sheets. If the International Polar Year proves that global warming is taking place and that the ice sheets are slowly melting away, maybe humans will look and see what kind of impact they have on the world and maybe…just maybe…they will want to change their ways and benefit the world instead of harm it.

Sources:

http://classic.ipy.org/about/

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12298

Photo Source:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Antarctica_satellite_orthographic.jpg

After all this talk about global warming I began too think about the changes occurring to office buildings to make them environmentally friendly. Some good news is that next year in New York , the 54-story Bank of America Tower in New York will be opened. This building is the most environmentally friendly office building in the United States. Some of its features are:

• It will produce most of its energy at an on-site co-generation plant
• It will capture and reuse waste water and rainwater
• It uses recycled materials in its construction

This latest trend toward office buildings is being held back by insufficient government support. Only 17 states and 59 cities including Chicago either offer incentives from green buildings or require certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

Bank of America Tower Construction Site

The new Bank of America building in Midtown Manhattan is the first building to receive a platinum LEED Certificate, the council’s highest. The building features six trading floors and has 2.1 million square feet. This building wouldn’t have been built if it weren’t for the $650 million in bonds. These bonds were intended to rebuild Lower Manhattan after the attacks that happened on September 11, 2001.

The chief executive of ProLogis, Jeffrey Schwartz, states that the U.S. government isn’t doing enough to help create greener buildings. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency argues that “federal tax breaks of up to $1.80 per square foot and programs to promote energy conservation provide enough support.”

The need to support green building has sky rocketed. Why? Because green projects have sky rocketed in recent years. The U.S. Green Building Council has issued 546 LEED certificates. Today, these certificates cover 59 million square feet. In 2002, 38 certificates were issued, covering 5 million square feet. The amount of green buildings being created in these last 5 years has gone up 14 times since 2002.

New Bank of America Tower in New York

Currently, there is a 60-story $450 million downtown Chicago office building being created says, project manager, Brad Soderwall. This building will be gold LEED certified. Some of its features that make it gold are:

• It will pump river water over water pipes in the basement to cool the building instead of using a conventional rooftop colling system
• It will also have a green roof. This green roof will be covered with plants to improve air quality, conserve energy and reduce runoff.

This building is said to save $800,000 annually on energy bills. The main tenant, Chicago-based law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP, required a gold LEED certificate in the lease.

Going green is the new trend. If you don’t according to Dale Anne Reiss, a global real estate director, you could lower the value of the building. So… go green or go home!

Sources:

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12222

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_America_Tower_at_One_Bryant_Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_in_Energy_and_Environmental_Design

Picture Source:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8b/Ecotower.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/BankOfAmericaTowerSite.jpg

When we think about snow, we usually say that its color is white. Well on Wednesday, 27,000 people living in three different Siberian regions would beg to differ. Red, green, and yellow snow fell over 100 square kilometers in the cities of Omsk, Tomsk, and Novosibirsk. The colored snow was tested and proved to be not toxic.

Snow on Beacon Hill in Boston, Massachusetts

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Beacon_Hill_Winter_Boston_MA_USA.jpg

Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov. said that the discoloration in that snow may have been caused by the soils and dust blown into the atmosphere from neighboring Kazakhstan. The local residents have been warmed not to drink or touch the snow. No health problems have been reported.

Source:

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12150

New Year’s Resolution: Make a Difference for the Environment

Laurie David, producer of Al Gore’s documentary about global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” gives us some tips on how to go green. Not only is she a producer but is also the author of “Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You” and founder of the StopGlobalWarming.org Web site. All she wants is for everyone to do something. “The impact of small actions by millions of people will be huge,” she says. People are starting to realize that they have to do something because in the future we won’t to able to stand these high temperatures if they continue to rise.

Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Aninconvenienttruth.jpg

David tries to get her point across by comparing household products and harming the environment. For example, she explains that there is no reason why we should be cutting down virgin wood to make toilet paper. The green solution: “If every American household changed just one roll of paper made with virgin wood to one recyclable post-consumer roll, half a million trees would still be standing.”

Since we are in a new year and have a fresh start let’s try to help the environment in every way we can. Here are some tips in order for you to do your part for the environment:

• By using compact fluorescent bulbs we are saving 300 pounds of carbon dioxide and about $60 a year.
• Buy a reusable water bottle, instead of throwing plastic ones out.
• Take the plug out of your electric sockets. Mobile phones, BlackBerry devices, iPods, digital cameras and other electronics use energy, even if they are turned off, if the charger is still going.
• Don’t waste to much time in the shower.

Leonardo DiCaprio Driving his Hybrid

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41471000/jpg/_41471438_leo.203.jpg

• Buy a hybrid car. By doing so you’re not only saving money on gas but you also aren’t releasing pollutants into the air.
• If you’re waiting for someone turn off your vehicle. By turning off your engine your are cutting down fuel emissions and improving air quality.
• Buy food from local grocery stores. If it’s local less gas will be used to transport the food.
• Don’t use paper of plastic bags, but instead cloth bags. You aren’t creating more waste and you are using something that’s renewable.
• If it’s cold at home don’t go strait to the thermometer, put a sweater on.
• Use recycled paper. Your saving countless trees and five pounds of carbon dioxide per ream of paper.

For more “green tips” visit David’s Web site, http://www.StopGlobalWarming.org.

Source:

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11924

Michael Taylor has created a new sport of finding and sizing up the tallest species on the planet, California’s ancient coast redwoods. In search of the tallest trees Taylor equips himself with three things: a laser range finder, a head for numbers, and an explorer’s zeal.

California’s Ancient Coast Redwoods

http://dangardner.ca/Images/redwood.jpg

In a span of eight weeks during the summer, he and Chris Atkins (a fellow amateur), searched the unexplored redwoods for the tallest trees. It is said that they have accomplished their goal in finding what it is to believe the three tallest trees in the world. All three of them are higher than 370 feet and are as old as 2,200 years. “The discoverers christened them Helios, after the Greek sun god; Hyperion, his father; and Icarus, the mythological youth whose wings melted when he flew too close to the sun.”

They are credited with cataloguing more trees than anyone else that measure 350 feet and up. After years of measuring most of the loftiest redwoods all they have left is explore one more unexplored area and then they will be done will California’s ancient redwoods. They plan on completing this task next summer but doubt they will find another 379.1 foot tree. “Only 36 coast redwoods taller than 360 feet have been recorded. Atkins or Taylor had a hand in locating 28 of them. In the 370-feet-and-up category, there are only four. Atkins and Taylor found them all.”

For over 30 years, it was said that a 367.8 foot tree found by Paul Zahl in 1963 was the tallest known. It wasn’t until Taylor proved Zahl wrong that a list of tall trees began being compiled. Now anyone can challenge the discovery of the tallest tree. Over the year’s Zahl discovery has lost over nine feet. This might have been caused by weather, diseases, or visitors.

Tyler, who makes a living selling silver on eBay, used up alot of his time and money into this search. His parents were afraid that he was going to rank redwoods instead of make money. “I was always really fascinated with the extremes — the biggest elephant, the longest anaconda,” Tyler says. “Why? I don’t know.” Sometimes in life it doesn’t matter how much money you make, but instead feeling a sense of fulfillment after completing something you have always wanted to do. Tyler should be proud of discovering what he did and having the patience to do it. I give him props.

Sources:

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11974

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia

After reading Motrya’s blog on global warming and what kind of an effect it has on winter sports I decided to a little research of my own. I wanted to look up the negative effects that global warming has and found an article about polar bears. According to the Bush administration, polar bears need government protection because their habitats are melting due to global warming. I feel bad for the poor, helpless animals. How would you feel if your home was burning down right in front of your eyes and there was nothing you could do to save it?

Two Polar Bear Cubs in Their Habitat

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Ursus_maritimus_us_fish.jpg

This realization has allowed the Bush administration to take a step in the right direction. Their willingness to acknowledge the growing problem of global warming and the need to take action has allowed for them to open their eyes up to new possibilities.

Global warming is making life really hard for the polar bears. The warming temperatures have caused them to lose their natural habitat and it’s making it harder for them to find food. Reduced food availability is causing some polar bears to starve to death and others to resort to cannibalism. Some even have drowned by being trapped on small islands of melting ice while attempting to swim for safety.

Arctic sea ice, polar bears’ natural habitat, is melting at a rapid rate. It is said by scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research that the region will be ice-free as early as the summer of 2040.

Arctic Sea Ice Melting

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ArcticIce/Images/noaa_pancake_ice.jpg

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has secured government protection for polar bears. “This is a victory for the polar bear, and all wildlife threatened by global warming,” said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity, in a press release. “This is the beginning of a sea change in the way this country addresses global warming. There is still time to save polar bears but we must reduce global warming pollution immediately.” According to United States Representative Jay Inslee, “Sand in the hourglass is running out for polar bears, Congress needs to take bold steps to reduce global warming pollution before time runs out for this and other species.”

“The United States has failed to lead the world in tackling global warming. With under five percent of the world’s people, we generate more than 20 percent of the global warming pollution,” said Kert Davies, Greenpeace research director. “We must start cutting greenhouse gas emissions or the polar bear will be pushed to the brink of extinction within our lifetime.”

It’s kind of scary to think that polar bears might become extinct within our lifetime if we don’t do something about global warming fast. The Bush administration has taken many hits about them not reducing global warming and not allowing their climate scientist to speak out about the effects that global warming will have on us if we don’t correct the problem soon. Hopefully, the administration will realize that keeping secrets won’t solve the problem. If we don’t, who knows, we might be the next extinction.

Source:

http://environment.about.com/od/biodiversityconservation/a/polar_bears.htm

When I was younger I would always ask my mom for 25 cents as we entered the grocery store. Why? I knew that there would be a vending machine where I could put my money in and get either a really pretty necklace or bracelet. Little did I know that this jewelry contains small amounts of lead. The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted and plans on banning all children’s jewelry that contains more than .06 percent lead based on the jewelry’s weight. They don’t plan on recalling everything said CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson. They just want to get rid of those goods that can be harmful to the consumer. Those products that are subjected to recall must either refund the consumer for the product, provide a replacement or offer a repair.

Lead Jewelry

http://img.alibaba.com/img/product/photobank/c/ha/charminghawaii/offer/1150399130471.jpg

A four-year-old Minneapolis died due to lead poisoning after swallowing part of a heart-shaped Reebok charm bracelet in February. This is the first such fatality linked to toy jewelry. This incident resulted in the biggest recall in CPSC’s history, 150 million pieces of children’s jewelry was recalled. About half of the 150 million pieces of toy jewelry actually contained lead, but because it was difficult to distinguish the lead jewelry from the non-lead jewelry, the industry decided to recall all of it, the commission said. Currently, the CPSCcan fine companies that continue to manufacture, sell or import jewelry that contains a large amount of lead.

These are some characteristics of jewelry from vending machines that may possibly contain lead:

• The rings are gold- or silver-colored with different designs and paint finishes and center stones in a variety of shapes.
• The necklaces have black cords, black ropes or gold- or silver-colored chains. They have pendants, crosses or various geometrical designs and may include fake gemstones.
• The bracelets include charm bracelets, bracelets with medallion links and bracelets with fake stones.

Jewelry that was Recalled for Lead Poisoning

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06118.jpg

“We are very pleased to have the CPSC on board as a partner in solving this problem,” said Sierra Club press secretary Eric Antebi. Antebi also added that this problem wouldn’t have been resolved if it wasn’t for the assistance that the Environmental Protection Agency. The CPSC is currently working on this problem and hopefully that will be able to solve it before another innocent child dies from lead poisoning.

Sometimes my mother denied me of 25 cents at the grocery store, now I thank her for not falling into the temptation of breaking because she might have possibly saved me from getting lead poisoning. Even though, I really doubt that I would swallow a necklace or bracelet.

Sources:

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11935

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/consumer-protection/consumer-interest/child-safety-alert-lead-poisoning-from-metal-jewelry-306/overview/index.htm

Gerald Ford is remembered by most as being the 38^th President of the United States, the man who healed America’s wounds after the Vietnam War. What many don’t know is that he was he only American President who served as a park ranger in the National Park Service. When he was 23, Ford was working at the Yellowstone National Park as a seasonal park ranger and recalled his summer there as one of his best. One of his duties was to protect his fellow park rangers while they were feeding the bears. While working at the park Ford took up a second job at the Canyon Hotel and Lodge. There his job was to meet and greet VIPs. He told his supervisor that it was “undemocratic and un-American to give special attention to VIPs.” This kind of attitude was seen later from Ford during his presidency.

Ranger Gerald Ford at Yellowstone National Park

http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/images/avproj/new-images/H0014-4-thm.jpg

Being a football player, Ford kept in shape while working as a park ranger by checking and listing the make, model, state and license number of 150 to 200 cars in two hours every morning. Once Ford became President he tightened the criteria for national parks and added 18 new areas to the National Park System. These 18 areas are:

• Boston National Historical Park, MA
• Big Cypress National Preserve, FL
• Big Thicket National Preserve, TX
• Clara Barton National Historic Site, MD
• John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, OR
• Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, ND
• Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, NY
• Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, AL
• Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, OH
• Canaveral National Seashore, FL
• Chickasaw National Recreation Area, OK
• Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, AK/WA
• Valley Forge National Historical Park, PA
• Ninety Six National Historic Site, SC
• Obed Wild and Scenic River, TN
• Congaree Swamp National Monument, SC
• Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site, CA
• Monocacy National Battlefield, MD

Source: National Park Service

May President Ford rest in peace. President Ford faced hard choices and made the hard decisions regarding a time in our nation’s history. He improved our National Park System and we are thankful for what he has done. May God grant his family, and our nation, peace and strength through this time.

President Ford’s Tomb

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Fords_grave.jpg

http://environment.about.com/od/activismvolunteering/a/ford_ranger.htm

Winter is just around the corner! What does this mean? We will find ourselves at the local car wash because our once black car has turned white because of the recent pouring of salt on the asphalt pavement. In the summer a typical chore was going outside and washing our car with a bucket and hose. Well washing our cars in the driveway in one of the most environmentally un-friendly household chores that we can do. The water that we use enter a sewer system and is then discharged into the environment. “That water is loaded with a witch’s brew of gasoline, oil and residues from exhaust fumes — as well as the harsh detergents being used for the washing itself.” It eventually lands up in a great body of water where it kills aquatic life and wreaks other ecosystem havoc.

Before Car Wash

http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/AGE/AGE049/K65-303864.jpg

On the other hand, commercial car washes are required by federal law to drain their water into a sewer system. This required drainage causes the water to get treated before it’s discharged back into the environment. They also use “computer controlled systems and high-pressure nozzles and pumps that minimize water usage.” Many commercial car washed also recycle and re-use the rinse water. For commercial car washes helping the environment benefits both them and the planet.

An industry group representing commercial car wash companies called the Internation Carwash Association reports that automatic car washes use less than half the water used by a homeowner washing their car on the driveway. “Washing a car at home typically uses between 80 and 140 gallons of water, while a commercial car wash averages less than 45 gallons per car.”

After Car Wash

http://3guysfrommiami.com/images/iowa_car2.jpg

Here are some tips if you have to wash your car at home:

• Choose a biodegradable soap specifically formulated for automotive parts.
• Wash your car on your lawn or over dirt so that the toxic waste water can be absorbed and neutralized in soil instead of flowing directly into storm drains or open water bodies.
• Try to sop up or disperse those sudsy puddles that remain after you’re done.

In this upcoming summer when your thinking about washing your car outside in your driveway please don’t. By spending an extra few dollars on a commercial car wash you are helping the environment. If you wash your car in the driveway you are contaminating bodies of water and poisoning fish. Please keep local waterways clean!

http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/car_wash.htm

These facts are courtesy of SEACing Environmental Solutions – Student Environment Advisory Council

• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours — or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
• To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
• Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these jars are recyclable!
• The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.
• A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.
• You can walk 1 mile along an average highway in the United States and see about 1,457 pieces of litter.

These simple fun facts allows a person realize how such small things, that people don’t even care about, can make an incredible impact on the environment. It puts in perspective how a little thing can go a long way.

http://www.seac.150m.com/fun_facts.html