Tag Archives: Environmental Protection Agency

Saving the Majestic Caracal

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Today’s post by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs is about the caracal, an incredible cat. It was provided by a member of the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan.

Photo credit: Malik al Owaji of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature

Photo credit: Malik al Owaji of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature

The majestic caracal can actually jump fast enough and high enough to catch a bird in flight! The nocturnal cat is very shy and was last seen in 1995. In 2008, Jordan’s competent environmental NGO, The Royal Society for the Conservation

of

Nature (RSCN), installed cameras in Dana Nature Reserve. In the last year, the night cameras have identified five animals. The RSCN and the Rangers (trained by the U.S. Forest Service, Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency) are keeping the cats in the wild by assuring that the cats have prey and do not get poached from the Reserve.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

Lessons from Young Environmentalists

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Since 1971, the President of the United States has worked with the Environmental Protection Agency on the President’s Environmental Youth Award, which “promotes awareness of…[the US’s] natural resources and encourages positive community involvement” on issues such as air, water, land and ecology. For more about the program, check out this page.

The young people that win these awards have exciting and innovating ideas about how to protect the Earth and promote important environmental principles like conservation. This short article discusses 6 different lessons we can all learn from these young environmental heroes. Check out the article to learn more about the different winning projects that teach us each of these lessons.

• “Start Small and Spread the Word.” That means that you have the power to make a difference, even if it is only in your family or circle of friends! Think about the environmental issues you care most about and pick one or two you can work on; then tell people about what you are doing and help others learn about and take action on these issues!
• “Explore Alternatives.” Just because something is a particular way, does not mean it has to stay that way, especially if it is degrading the environment. We can all explore eco-friendly alternatives to everyday problems, such as choosing to walk or ride a bike instead of using a fossil fuel-heavy car for your transport, or growing some of your own vegetables instead of buying ones that are shipped from far distances or use harmful chemicals to grow. The changes you can make depend on a lot of factors, but be creative!
• “Reuse Everything.” This one is pretty straight forward: try and find a different use for something instead of throwing it away! Whether that is giving it to someone, fixing something so you can use it again, recycling, or turning it into something entirely new, we can all make a greater effort to give the things we use a longer life.
• “Exercise Your Green Thumb.” Get out there and garden! Whether it is plants or vegetables, working in the earth and watching things grow from your own hard work and the majesty of nature is an incredible way to connect with the outdoors! And if you are able to grow some of your own food, you know you are eating healthily

and more environmentally friendly.
• “Education is Powerful.” Teaching people about environmental issues is a key part of getting them involved! As we learn about environmental issues, we are better able to come up with solutions. From every day education in classrooms, to after-school programs, to online lectures, books, and informative rallies, there are a variety of ways for all of us to learn more.
• “Reduce Consumption.” This can be an especially difficult concept, especially in cultures where having more and more things in your life is considered extremely important. Buying less and using what you have until you can use it no more help to reduce the amount of things produced, packaged and thrown away. Reusing, repurposing and recycling definitely come into play here!

October’s theme is…Youth and Sustainability!

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Members of an international team work on a plan for eliminating all carbon dioxide emissions from space travel. (Courtesy of Zero Fotografie)

Members of an international team work on a plan for eliminating all carbon dioxide emissions from space travel. (Courtesy of Zero Fotografie)

Throughout October we will be focusing the blog on issues surrounding youth and sustainability. We will explore what young people around the world are doing to make their lives more sustainable, from small, individual actions to larger projects by school groups and coalitions of students. As part of this focus, we will try and highlight youth conferences and events worldwide that will be going on the rest of 2011 and throughout 2012, in the hopes that you may find a gathering of like-minded young people to share your ideas and interests on climate change. We are looking for suggestions of youth environmental programs to alert people to, so please post in the comment section if you know of an upcoming event or are part of such a group!

Before we delve into this topic further, let’s answer the question: What is sustainability? According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),

Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations. Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.

What does sustainability have to do with climate change? It turns out the two are very closely linked. From sustainable, clean energy sources (like wind and hydropower) that reduce our use of fossil fuels and Greenhouse Gas emissions, to sustainable building of cities as populations grow, to developing strategies for sustainable resource management that ensures continued access to clean water and trees. While governments, non-profit organizations and communities around the world are tackling these issues, there is also an incredible movement of youth taking action to ensure their own lives are as sustainable as possible. By looking forward to the future: access to things like food and water, temperature and sea level rise, the increase of extreme weather events, these young people recognize the need to take action today.

What do you do in your everyday life to be more sustainable?

September’s theme is…Water!

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How are water and climate change related? What are the effects on water from climate change? To see the devastating effects with explanations in pictures, click here.

Melting polar ice caps (AP Images)

Melting polar ice caps (AP Images)

According to this water report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “The future effects of climate change on water resources… will depend on trends in both climatic and non-climatic factors. Evaluating these impacts is challenging because water availability, quality and streamflow are sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation. Other important factors include increased demand for water caused by population growth, changes in the economy, development of new technologies, changes in watershed characteristics and water management decisions.” While climate change is not the only contributing factor to the future availability, safety and security of the world’s water resources, it is a major component that many governments are beginning to think about today.

Climate change will affect how much and when it rains, which in turn affects vegetation and agriculture, including soil moisture. This also means increased floods and droughts, loss of wetlands from rising sea levels, and an upset in the delicate balance of salinity in the world’s oceans, which will affect the millions of creatures who live in and/or depend on the ocean (including humans!)

Here is some additional information to give you a better understanding of who is affected by water issues today and who will be the most affected in years to come. In 2007, the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture [1] stated that 1.2 billion people, or (at that time) about one-fifth of the world’s population lives in areas where water is physically scarce, and another 1.6 billion people live in developing countries without the ability to take water from rivers, aquifers and other water sources. Since 2007, the world’s population has increased – and so has the number of people without access to clean, safe water. This number will keep rising as the negative impacts of climate change continue. The alternative is that we do something to mitigate climate change…and come up with better solutions to adapt to it.

For more information on the science of how climate change affects water (flooding, drought, increased evaporation, natural disasters, etc.), check out http://www.climate.org/topics/water.html.

For water-related climate-risk management, here are the World Bank’s informational pages on water supply, sanitation and hygiene, agricultural water management, environmental services, hydropower, and water resources management.

What resources do you use to get your water information?

 

[1] Click on the link to find summaries of “Water for Food, Water for Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Availability” in English, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and French.