Category Archives: Websites

Atlas of Living Australia — free website

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“Atlas of Living Australia
ala.org.au
With the aim of improving access to information about Australian plants, animals, and microorganisms, this site was publicly launched with government support in November 2010. And when Tropical Cyclone Yasi struck coastal Queensland on February 3, 2011, with winds of 185 mph, it proved a valuable tool for identifying the flora and fauna devastated in the region. A work in progress: you can search by species, many of which are unique to Australia–like the iconic lyrebird, the duck-billed platypus, or even the Tasmanian devil; create your own species distribution maps; check out photos, links, and data­sets; or learn how to become a contributor through an affiliated organization.”

BEST OF FREE REFERENCE Library Journal, April 19, 2011, LJXpress

By Brian E. Coutts & Cheryl LaGuardia

World Water Day March 22nd — Nature Conservancy

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“Where does your drinking water come from?

A simple question, but how many people actually know the answer? Watch this video as we took to the streets to find out and then check out the results of our national poll.

In honor of World Water Day, today, March 22, we hope you take the time to get to know where your family’s most precious resource comes from.

Locate your city on this interactive graphic to find out where your water comes from and how supporters like you help to protect that source.

At a time when the natural world is under increasing stress, our rivers, lakes, wetlands and streams may be the most at risk. Here are a few things you can do to celebrate World Water Day and ensure healthy water for you and your family for years to come.

· Give a gift to The Nature Conservancy today to help support many initiatives including our Freshwater work.

· Watch and share this video of my eight-year-old son, Luca, as he demonstrates how natural eco-systems keep water clean.

· Share your favorite rivers and lakes photos to help inspire others to care for our freshwater resources.

· Get tips on how you and your family can save water and share them with your network of friends and family through Facebook and Twitter.

You can also read about how the people of Palau are unifying to protect their water on a local level, and how this approach could be used to inspire collaboration in communities across the globe.”

Source Nature Conservancy email, 3/22/11

Environmental History Podcast — website and podcast

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Environmental History Podcast

http://www.eh-resources.org/podcast/podcast.html

“Environmental History Resources is a fantastic website, maintained by Dr. Jan Oosthoek, an environmental historian based at the University of Newcastle, that explores how “environmental changes, often the result of human actions, have caused historical trends.” The website features the award-winning podcast and the podcasts are available for visitors to listen to for the years of 2006 to 2010, with the 40th podcast episode on the lost wetlands of England posted in mid-December 2010. Visitors will find that each podcast episode has a good written synopsis that accompanies it, including literature cited, websites mentioned, and music featured, when applicable. Moving along, visitors will find a podcast in the “Podcasts 2008” section which addresses “Disasters, history and the cultures of coping”. It uses the example of the Philippines, which has more tsunamis, volcanoes and earthquakes than any other country in the world, to show how “persistent threat and reality of disasters shapes the history, social and cultural development of societies.”

Source: Wisconsin Scout Report, Univ. Wisc. Mar. 18, 2011

Environmental clean-ups around the country

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“EPA: Cleaning Up Our Land, Water and Air [pdf]

http://www.epa.gov/cleanup/

The Environmental Protection Agency has been cleaning up the nation’s land, water and air for four decades, and there’s still much work to be done. This homepage provides information about cleanups around the country, what citizens can do to help, and the EPA’s long-term stewardship programs. On the homepage, visitors can use a clickable map to learn about cleanup information by EPA region or program. Moving on, visitors can also read about available cleanup grants and funding opportunities in different communities. The site also contains a glossary of EPA terms, and helpful cleanup publications, such as newsletters, “FedFacs” newsletters, and waste management documents that cover Native American reservations. The site is rounded out by an “Other Publications” area that covers brownfields and the latest work on Superfund sites.”

Source: Scout Report, Univ. of Wisconsin, 3/4/11

Climate-L.org becomes Climate Change Policy & Practice

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The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is pleased to announce the renaming of Climate-L.org as Climate Change Policy & Practice.

Climate Change Policy & Practice is a knowledge management project carried out by the International Institute for Sustainable Development Reporting Services (IISD RS) in collaboration with the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination. The features of our website remain unchanged and include:

  • news on UN and intergovernmental activities addressing the climate change challenge;
  • an iCal of upcoming climate change events;
  • guest articles by key figures of the climate community and UN leaders; and
  • policy updates

We are also continuing to produce the Climate Change Daily Feed, which delivers to our readers’ email boxes the latest news on climate change meetings, projects, publications and statements.

Our previous URL https://lists.iisd.ca/t/1066123/161501/1015/0/ will automatically re-direct you to the new URL for Climate Change Policy & Practice https://lists.iisd.ca/t/1066123/161501/2755/0/

To sign up to receive the Climate Change Daily Feed and to subscribe to the CLIMATE-L community listserve, please click here > https://lists.iisd.ca/t/1066123/161501/2756/0/

To subscribe to our free iCal of climate change events, please click here > https://lists.iisd.ca/t/1066123/161501/2757/0/

Please also visit the sister sites of Climate Change Policy & Practice:

SIDS Policy & Practice (https://lists.iisd.ca/t/1066123/161501/2758/0/

Biodiversity Policy & Practice (https://lists.iisd.ca/t/1066123/161501/2759/0/

Verbatim from Fred Stoss for CHMINF-L . Change was announced December 6th.

What Would You Sacrifice for a Secure Future? Worldwatch Inst.

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A new book, (Firestone GE170 .E5774 2010) The Environmental Politics of Sacrifice, challenges the widely held assumption that people will not sacrifice for environmental goals. In his own take on the topic, Worldwatch senior researcher Erick Assadourian observes that even the word “sacrifice” has become taboo – associated more with violent rituals (think Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) than with its root meaning, “to make “sacred.”

Read: What Would You Sacrifice for a Secure Future? by Erik Assadourian

Source: Worldwatch Institute mailer, Oct. 7, 2010

Worldwatch Institute – 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036 USA

– has a newsfeed, a Facebook page and a Twitter account, and is a very enlightening resource.

Sustainable Table, a website

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I ran into Sustainable Table via Eating Alaska, the noteworthy film about “sustainable eating”, a vegetarian woman moving to Alaska and marrying a hunter/fisherman.

I’ve marked the introduction page, which offers answers to many questions about sustainability and food-related issues.

Crude Oil and Dispersants Added to the Hazardous Substances Data Bank

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September 10, 2010 [posted]

NLM® Resource Update: Crude Oil and Dispersants Added to the Hazardous Substances Data Bank

[Editor’s Note: This is a reprint of an announcement published on NLM-Tox-Enviro-Health-L, an e-mail announcement list available from the NLM Division of Specialized Information Services. To subscribe to this list, please see the NLM-TOX-ENVIRO-HEALTH-L Join, Leave, or Change Options page.]

The National Library of Medicine® (NLM) Division of Specialized Information Services has added crude oil and dispersant records to the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB®).

In response to the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill, the HSDB development team and the HSDB Scientific Review Panel (SRP) compiled and reviewed data for crude oil, Corexit 9500, and Corexit 9527 records. Although many dispersants exist, the two selected were most widely used during recent oil clean up efforts in the United States Gulf area and are on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) list of authorized dispersants for use on the National Contingency Plan (NCP) Product Schedule.

The HSDB records include data on human health effects, animal toxicity studies, environmental fate and exposure, and hazard information.

Source: NLM Technical Bulletin 2010 Sep-Oct;(376):e4.

ReVolt, Worldwatch’s blog on Energy & the Environment

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Revolt

The Worldwatch Institute’s Climate and Energy Blog

Revolt is a free online news blog from the Worldwatch Institute. Its latest articles include a Chinese Cap & Trade plan, an alternate measure to the GDP, and clean energy in Massachusetts.

EPA’s National Environmental Publications Internet Site (NEPIS)

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NSCEP/NEPIS – EPA’s Gateway to Free Digital & Paper Publications

"This site is EPA’s premier site for accessing EPA publications, with more than 7,000 in stock and 35,000 digital titles, free of charge! EPA’s print publications are available through the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP), and EPA’s digital publications are stored in the National Environmental Publications Internet Site (NEPIS) database! You can search and retrieve, download, print and/or order only EPA publications from this site. "

Some of these reports will be also listed in various government databases, like NTIS, NTRL, MarciveWeb DOCS, and also in WorldCat and Google. (NTIS does not provide links or access to the full text.)

The EPA National Library Network has updated its Core List for an Environmental Reference Collection