This month's update includes documentation on the negotiated agreements from the UN Conference on Climate Change held this past December in Montreal. Earthscape also acquired several publications from four new contributors based in the conference's host country; Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development, Sierra Club Canada, Climate Action Network Canada and The David Suzuki Foundation.

Video Seminar for Earthscape Subscribers

Unveiling the Great Ocean of Truth
A talk by Retired Navy Vice Admiral
Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D.
Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator

Educational Resources

Discovery Kits describe the scientific principles underlying the applied science and activities of NOAA's National Ocean Service. Designed for educators and students at the high school level, they are written in easy-to-read, non-technical language, and focus on the themes of oceans, coasts, and charting and navigation. The Discovery Kit topics are Corals, Estuaries, Geodesy, Non-Point Source Pollution and Tides & Water Levels.

Discovery Stories are case studies in coastal and ocean science drawn from research conducted by scientists at NOAA's National Ocean Service. They are opportunities to learn through inquiry and are accompanied by a set of supporting resources, including student and teacher guides, interactive quizzes, exercises with real data, and interviews with NOS scientists that explore how scientists think. Prince William's Oily Mess: A Tale of Recovery and The Lionfish Invasion! are the current story offerings.

Discovery Classroom is a collection of nineteen inquiry-based, formal lesson plans based on the major thematic areas of the National Ocean Service Web site. All of the lessons emphasize hands-on activities using on-line data resources. Some of the topics covered are Coral Reef Conservation, Coastal Ecosystem Science, Marine Navigation and Ocean Exploration.

NeMO New Millennium Observatory
NeMO studies the dynamic interactions between submarine volcanic activity and seafloor hot springs at an observatory, Axial seamount. This web site lets you dive with a remotely operated vehicle to the seafloor and back at Axial Seamount, an active submarine volcano. Dive! is an interactive experience using video and computer animation that allows you explore black smoker vents, unusual life forms, and newly erupted lava flows.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has a proactive, hopeful resource on their website called Common Sense on Climate Change: Practical Solutions to Global Warming. Common Sense on Climate Change: Practical Solutions to Global Warming
They offer consumer solutions and everyday choices people can make to slow warming.

Also worth a visit is UCS's background brief, Responding to Global Warming Skeptics -Prominent Skeptics Organizations
They expose the organizations, funding sources and individuals behind the campaign to discredit the scientific consensus on global warming.