Category: education

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Featured Resource: All We Can Save

All We Can Save is an anthology of writings about the climate crisis by 60 women, centered on “Truth, Courage, and Solutions.” Edited by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Dr. Katherine K. Wilkinson, the anthology covers many aspects of climate action, activism, policy, history and more, from a viewpoint grounded in feminism. As a whole, the collection conveys a refreshing message of realism, compassion, cooperation, and hope.

The All We Can Save project, also co-founded by Dr. Johnson and Dr. Wilkinson, offers additional resources for educators, for building community, on working with climate emotions, and for workplace climate action.

We recently participated in a high school climate event organized in the spirit of All We Can Save. Students and faculty read the anthology and gathered for a day of discussion and activities. We joined alongside presentations from climate activists, artists, experts in building science, the fashion and food industries, climate medicine, and more. Our contribution was a presentation and demonstration on climate science basics, renewable energy, and climate engineering.

All We Can Save
ClimateDemo
Climate Science Demonstration
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Chemtrails = bunk!

We were happy to learn of the publication of “Quantifying expert consensus against the existence of a secret, large-scale atmospheric spraying program,” an open access article in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters summarizing the scientific consensus on Chemtrails – i.e. that they don’t exist!

To most scientists including us at the AIRE team, it is obvious that contrails have a simple physical explanation and are not evidence of secret chemical spraying.  In fact, it is so obvious that it would never have occurred to most of us to spend the time and energy to conduct and publish a survey on the topic. But until now, a nonexpert wanting to find out the truth about this by searching on the internet would encounter tons of sites filled with misinformation and conspiracy theories, and very little legitimate scientific information.  Hopefully this article (and press covering it, like this NY Times article) will be near the top of the Google search results for a while.

 

 

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Recommended Resource: Moms Clean Air Force

Moms Clean Air Force is an organization of families fighting against environmental pollution.  Their website is full of excellent resources, with information on such topics as indoor air pollution, fracking, smog, and more. Our favorite feature is the “mom detective.” They have a very active and interesting twitter feed at @CleanAirMoms. Moms Clean Air Force is sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund.

http://www.momscleanairforce.org/

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Recurso Recomendado: @MamasAireLimpio

Moms Clean Air Force es una comunidad de familias unidas contra la contaminación  del medio ambiente.  Su sito del web (enlace por debajo) es muy informativo y interesante, con muchos recursos en español sobre temas incluso: contaminación del aire en interiores, la fractura hidráulica (fracking), y el smog.  Siguelos por twitter: @mamasairelimpio

Moms Clean Air Force es un proyecto del Environmental Defense Fund.

Bienvenidos

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Recommended Resource: “What’s Up in the Atmosphere? Exploring Colors in the Sky,” an aerosols storybook from The GLOBE Program

Scientists and educators from NASA and UCAR have written a storybook entitled “What’s Up in the Atmosphere? Exploring Colors in the Sky” aimed at elementary school-aged (K-4) children, in which atmospheric aerosols play a starring role.  The story follows a group of curious students who, under the guidance of their teacher, investigate the connection between the appearance of the sky and asthma symptoms in their fellow students on a given day.  The students in the story (and the readers) learn about atmospheric aerosols in the process.  The storybook includes a teachers’ guide with glossary.

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Quick Facts About Indoor Air

This long winter has had the AIRE team thinking about the amount of time we spend indoors, and the air quality there.

– These days, most people spend the vast majority of their time indoors (especially in the winter!). There is therefore high potential for exposure to pollutants indoors, i.e., at home or in the workplace.

– While what we think of as commonplace outdoor pollutants (e.g. car exhaust) may be less prevalent indoors than outdoors, other chemicals such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be present at much higher concentrations indoors. Indoor VOCs may come from many sources including cleaning products, air fresheners, and new furniture. They can harmful to health on their own, or serve as precursors for the formation of aerosol particles.

– You have probably heard about secondhand smoke, which is the exposure of non-smokers by being around smokers. Thirdhand smoke can also be a problem. This occurs when nicotine, tar, and other harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke deposit on indoor surfaces like walls and carpets. People can be directly exposed to these chemicals through contact the surface, or reactions with gases like ozone may cause them to re-enter the gas phase.

We are looking forward to the warmer weather and more time in the fresh air outdoors!

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Recurso Recomendado: Centro Mario Molina

El sitio web del Centro Mario Molina es un recurso maravilloso para información y noticias en Español sobre la calidad del aire, el cambio climático, y el desarrollo sustentable.

El Dr. Mario Molina es un químico conocido por todo el mundo por su trabajo en la química atmosférica. El Dr. Molina ganó el Premio Nobel de Química en 1995 por sus investigaciones sobre la descomposición del ozono estratosférico. Más recientemente, él ha estado trabajando para entender y mejorar la calidad del aire de la Ciudad de México y otras ciudades grandes, al iqual que  el cambio climático. En el 2005 se fundó este Centro, que es “un puente de soluciones prácticas entre la ciencia y las políticas públicas en materia de energía y del medio ambiente para promover el desarrollo sustentable.”

http://centromariomolina.org  twitter: @CentroMMolina

Dr. Molina con Prof. McNeill y su familia en May 2014.
El Dr. Molina con la Prof. McNeill y su familia en Mayo del 2014.

 

 

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Recommended Resource: Aerosol Science & Engineering

In honor of the 2014 Annual meeting of the American Association for Aerosol Research, happening this week in Orlando, FL,  we are very excited to share with you this series of educational modules on the science and engineering of aerosols (airborne particles).

These materials were developed by Profs. Pratim Biswas, of Washington University St. Louis, and C. Y. Wu, of University of Florida, through a collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation. The modules are aimed at an introductory college level, and are excellent for supplementing course materials or learning on your own.

The modules: http://aerosols.wustl.edu/education/

The complete lecture series for an introductory course on Aerosol Science and Technology from WUStL is available FREE through ITunesU!: https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/id691280850

Additional information on this effort, and more resources: http://www.aerosols.wustl.edu/aaqrl/Education/mageep/index.html

 

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Go to S’COOL with NASA #SkyScience!

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Next week (Oct. 12-14) is Earth Sciences Week.  This is a great opportunity to get to know the educational programs offered by NASA.  Our favorite is “S’COOL.”  In this program, you learn about the different types of clouds, and you can make observations of the clouds in your area, record them, and report them back to NASA.  By doing this, you can help NASA validate the performance of the CERES satellite.  This satellite observes the same clouds you see from the ground, but from space!

Get to know the different types of clouds:  Cloud Identification Chart (NASA)

Record your observations: Report Form

Report them to NASA: S’COOL Ground Observation Report