Here you will find ecosystems and sustainability specific links on the internet that correlate to the Sustainable Ecosystems Course. These will be used in various capacities such as research, reference, calculations and so on. Below you will find the title of the websites, the corresponding link and a description of the websites purpose. These websites are not affiliated with the Sustainability program but are to be used as points of reference for the students and visitors. It is an ever growing collection of links to the vast array of information available on the internet in regards to sustainability.
Arizona Association for Environmental Education View
AAEE strives to enhance the quality, scope, and effectiveness of environmental education in Arizona, working with diverse audiences to promote professional development, networking, and collaborative relationships.
The Center's website offers hundreds of downloadable resource materials, including practical guides, essays by leading writers and experts, and inspiring stories of school communities and organizations across the country that are engaged in this vital work.
NBC Learn, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, explores the impact that climate change is having on our planet. For related lesson plans, check the back of each Cue Card, or visit the Windows to the Universe project team at the National Earth Science Teachers Association.
Ecology and Society is an electronic, peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal devoted to the rapid dissemination of current research. Manuscript submission, peer review, and publication are all handled on the Internet.
Environment 360 is a publication of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
Jul 2, 2012, 3:57 PM
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NASA - Goddard Space Flight - Scientific Visualization Studio View
The mission of the Scientific Visualization Studio is to facilitate scientific inquiry and outreach within NASA programs through visualization. To that end, the SVS works closely with scientists in the creation of visualization products, systems, and processes in order to promote a greater understanding of Earth and Space Science research activities at Goddard Space Flight Center and within the NASA research community.
Know Your Earth 2.0, Chicago, is a collaboration among 12 of NASA's Earth-observing satellite missions. Focusing on the “on-the-go” and “smart-technology” public in big cities is vital to informing the public about how our Earth works and how NASA research is increasing our understanding of our home planet. The project’s first release city is Chicago, Illinois. A city steeped in culture, architecture, and history, Chicago lends itself to being a city that is perfect for this type of ground-breaking project.
The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) is the first-ever true-color high-resolution satellite view of the Antarctic continent enabling everyone to see Antarctica as it appears in real life.
Here you will find plant lists for wildlife including birds, butterflies pollinators and even mammals. They mostly all come from universities, extension services, cities or other organizations and they are plant lists for wildlife, not just native plant lists.
Aug 1, 2012, 3:19 PM
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Plants of the southwestern U.S. desert region View
Featuring primarily species from Arizona, but including some other species from the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico
The Stockholm Resilience Centre is an international centre that advances transdisciplinary research for governance of social-ecological systems with a special emphasis on resilience - the ability to deal with change and continue to develop.
The Aldo Leopold Foundation is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that works to weave a land ethic into the fabric of our society; to advance the understanding, stewardship and restoration of land health; and to cultivate leadership for conservation.
The Land Institute has worked for over 30 years on the problem of agriculture. Our purpose is to develop an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops.
Jul 2, 2012, 3:57 PM
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Tucson Desert Botanical Garden Online Field Guides View
This site includes a searchable plant database consisting of over 100 plants that attract birds and butterflies to your Arizona gardens along with native wildflowers. It also features flower, bird and butterfly identification and gardening information.
We provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management. We want to be recognized as a dynamic organization that is able to efficiently provide the integrated program delivery needed to lead a rapidly evolving food and agriculture system.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's mission is to protect and enhance public health, welfare and the environment in Arizona. Established by the Arizona Legislature in 1986 in response to growing concerns about groundwater quality, ADEQ today administers a variety of programs to improve the health and welfare of our citizens and ensure the quality of Arizona's air, land and water resources meets healthful, regulatory standards.
Ecology Explorers gives Phoenix area K-12 teachers and students opportunities to learn through real scientific research. You can help research our Phoenix ecosystem and be part of the Central Arizona - Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) project being carried out by scientists. The scientific data you collect can be shared with other researchers and schools to see what patterns in nature exist across our Phoenix metropolitan area!
Oct 19, 2011, 10:53 AM
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Central Arizona Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research View
The Central Arizona-Phoenix Long–Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) project provides an important addition to LTER research by focusing on an arid land ecosystem profoundly influenced by human activities. It is one of two sites funded by the National Science Foundation that specifically studies urban ecology.
This is a course website from Stephen T. Abedon (abedon.1@osu.edu) for Biology 113 at the Ohio State University. In it is describes multiple purposes of Ecosystems. For this units purpose, please scroll down to section (15) - Chemical Cycling
Aug 2, 2012, 2:34 PM
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Engineering Grand Challenges - Nitrogen Cycle View
It doesn’t offer as catchy a label as “global warming,” but human-induced changes in the global nitrogen cycle pose engineering challenges just as critical as coping with the environmental consequences of burning fossil fuels for energy.
Feedback loops are of critical importance to the regulation of a stable internal environment in our bodies. Here, find an explanation of different types of feedback loops and examples of each.
All elements of the periodic chart can be found on earth in many different forms. The elements may differ in physical form and be either solid, liquid or gaseous, or they may differ in their overall form as a result of chemical reactions they have undergone. The most important cycles of matter will be described here; those of water, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and carbon.
The on-air version of this story stated that energy is released when carbon-atom bonds are broken. To be more precise, energy is released after the bond is broken and carbon atoms grab on to other atoms.
We have observed that plants require light, water, carbon dioxide, soil minerals and some reasonable temperature to survive. We have considered most of these factors and it is time to consider temperature, itself tied into all of these other factors in some way. This one environmental factor strongly determines the distribution of plants on the planet.
Aug 30, 2012, 10:18 AM
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Environmental Decision Making, Science and Technology: Atmosphere View
From Carnegie Mellon University - ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEM: This section examines the atmosphere as a system, and several atmospheric phenomena that have become critical in the understanding and guardianship of our environment.
This lab adopted by Vernier Probeware examines the differences of atmospheric current movement to represent the change of convection currents above land and sea surfaces.
Swinging CO2 Levels Show The Earth Is 'Breathing' More Deeply View
Plant life on our planet soaks up a fair amount of the carbon dioxide that pours out of our tailpipes and smokestacks. Plants take it up during the summer and return some of it to the air in the winter. And a new study shows that those "breaths" have gotten deeper over the past 50 years.
Aug 14, 2013, 9:47 AM
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Unit 2: Atmosphere & Biomes - Planet Earth Questionnaire View
This sheet is to be used when watching the respective biome in the documentary "Planet Earth"
Have you ever wondered why one area of the world is a desert, another a grassland, and another a rainforest? Why are there different forests and deserts, and why are there different types of life in each area? The answer is climate.
i-Tree is a state-of-the-art, peer-reviewed software suite from the USDA Forest Service that provides urban forestry analysis and benefits assessment tools. The i-Tree Tools help communities of all sizes to strengthen their urban forest management and advocacy efforts by quantifying the structure of community trees and the environmental services that trees provide.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. From 2001 to 2005, the MA involved the work of more than 1,360 experts worldwide. Their findings provide a state-of-the-art scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them sustainably.
Sep 12, 2012, 5:06 PM
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Natural Capital Conservation Viability Criteria Sheet View
Framework for Assessing the Viability of an Ecosystem Service Approach to Conservation: The Top 10 Screening Criteria
Natural Capitalism Solutions is recognized internationally for its work in the field of sustainability. Formed by Hunter Lovins, co-author of the acclaimed book Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Natural Capitalism Solutions is led by Lovins, who has over 40 years experience in business, sustainability, and change management.
Human well-being is highly dependent on ecosystems and the benefits they provide such as food and drinkable water. Over the past 50 years, however, humans have had a tremendous impact on their environment.
The National Geographic Society’s freshwater initiative is a multi-year global effort to inspire and empower individuals and communities to conserve freshwater and preserve the extraordinary diversity of life that rivers, lakes, and wetlands sustain.
National Geographic's Presentation on the Ocean, full of videos, diagrams, charts and awe-inspiring photographs.
Oct 6, 2011, 10:55 AM
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Sea Changes: Ocean Acidification Is Worse Than It’s Been for 300 Million Years View
Human beings are doing unprecedented things to the Earth, which is sort of impressive when you realize that the planet has existed for more than 4.5 billion years. But that’s what happens when 7 billion people produce and consume more and more stuff, emitting enormous amounts of gases like carbon dioxide and generally making of muck of things for everyone else.
This article about Sustainable Fishing is critical to sustaining the health of aquatic ecosystems. Please read, jot notes of summarization and thought and be ready to share.
Freshwater Institute logoFrom our campus in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, we combine applied research, engineering and economic development skills to show how freshwater resources achieve economic and environmental goals.
Understanding the world population is hindered by the sheer size of the task. We can measure numbers and statistics, but the reality of 7 billion people is infinitely more difficult to comprehend. While it is virtually impossible to accurately portray the life experiences of each one of us, the aim of this project is to select and present a representative sample of 100 of the earth’s population.
Welcome to the Arizona State University Center for Population Dynamics (CePoD). CePoD is a transdisciplinary research center drawing scholars who are interested in broad aspects of population research. The Center is located in the Phoenix metropolitan area, a vibrant, rapidly growing urban community of the American Southwest. We pursue novel avenues of population research in local, regional, national and international settings.
Trying to assess the importance of the United Nations' upcoming celebration of the global population reaching 7 billion is sort of like trying to assess the meaning of life.
A HUGE Collection of data on all different elements of populations. Holy wow.
Oct 9, 2012, 8:53 AM
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Google Public Data Explorer - U.S. Population View
Population estimates for US States, counties, cities and other places, by sex and gender. This dataset was prepared by Google based on data downloaded from U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division.
More info »
The U.S. POPClock is consistent with Census 2010 data and the most recent national population estimates.
Population clocks on the US Census Bureau's Web site will update continuously for one minute and then will update once per minute after the first minute a web page is displayed.
We are the largest grassroots population organization in the United States. Population Connection has 140,000 members, supporters, and participating educators. We educate young people about unsustainable population growth through K-12 lesson plans that reach 3 million students a year.
The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. Our Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map.
When people talk about the poorest countries of the world, they often refer to them with the general term Third World, and they think everybody knows what they are talking about. But when you ask them if there is a Third World, what about a Second or a First World, you almost always get an evasive answer. Other people even try to use the terms as a ranking scheme for the state of development of countries, with the First world on top, followed by the Second world and so on, that's perfect - nonsense.
The Population Reference Bureau informs people around the world about population, health, and the environment, and empowers them to use that information to advance the well-being of current and future generations.
The Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy. We honor privacy, protect confidentiality, share our expertise globally, and conduct our work openly. We are guided on this mission by our strong and capable workforce, our readiness to innovate, and our abiding commitment to our customers.
An invasive species is one that is not native to an ecosystem and which causes, or is likely to cause, economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. It is important to note that when we talk about a species being invasive, we are talking about environmental boundaries, not political ones.
The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity is commonly referred to as biodiversity. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Appropriate conservation and sustainable development strategies attempt to recognize this as being integral to any approach.
Nov 1, 2011, 10:50 AM
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Invasive Crayfish in AZ and fungus harmful to amphibians View
Chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has
nonamphibian hosts and releases chemicals that cause
pathology in the absence of infection
Invasive and Exotic Species of North America
any species, including its seeds, eggs, spores, or other biological material capable of propagating that species, that is not native to that ecosystem; and whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.
National Invasive Species Information Center (NISIC): Gateway to invasive species information; covering Federal, State, local, and international sources.
This is a fundraising promo video for The Last Passenger Pigeon: Species Extinction and Survival in the 21st Century. This documentary will recount the total destruction by humans of the most abundant bird species in North America, and possibly the world.
The Center for Biological Diversity works through science, law and creative media to secure a future for all species, great or small, hovering on the brink of extinction.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is widely recognized as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species.
Planet Earth teems with life—and now you can meet some of its stars! Check out our profiles below of some of the most amazing animals on the planet—living in niches from the deep oceans to the highest mountains
The other day I posted an amazing picture, showing the output of a computer model displaying a global map of atmospheric aerosols—particles suspended in Earth’s air.
Nov 18, 2012, 8:46 PM
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Beijing's 'Airpocalypse' Spurs Pollution Controls, Public Pressure View
In China's capital, they're calling it the "airpocalypse," with air pollution that's literally off the charts. The air has been classified as hazardous to human health for a fifth consecutive day, at its worst hitting pollution levels 25 times that considered safe in the U.S.
Pollution prevention (P2) is reducing or eliminating waste at the source by modifying production processes, promoting the use of non-toxic or less-toxic substances, implementing conservation techniques, and re-using materials rather than putting them into the waste stream.
TRI is a database containing data on disposal or other releases of over 600 toxic chemicals from thousands of U.S. facilities and information about how facilities manage those chemicals through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment. One of TRI's primary purposes is to inform communities about toxic chemical releases to the environment.
Nov 30, 2011, 6:49 AM
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In China, Water You Wouldn’t Dare Swim in, Let Alone Drink View
After more than three decades of economic prosperity, China faces serious environmental challenges that are sure to be discussed during the National People’s Congress, the annual conclave currently underway in Beijing. Air pollution blankets hundreds of cities, and the soil in vast parts of the country is contaminated.
Since the early 1990s, residents of the Valley of the Sun have been looking for some relief of their own. The "Brown Cloud", as it has come to be known, shrouds the Phoenix area in pollutants nearly year-round resulting in the American Lung Association giving Maricopa County its lowest grade for air quality in both ozone and particulates in 2005.
Nov 28, 2011, 1:12 PM
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Research on Air Pollution and Socioeconomic Conditions: Status and Future View
A powerpoint about socioeconomic impacts relationship to Air Pollution
Nov 28, 2011, 7:55 AM
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The Devastating Effects of Pollution in China View
We went to the single most polluted place on earth, the coal-mining town of Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, where kids play in dirty rivers and the sun sets early behind a thick curtain of smog.
From lead in the soil to toxins in the water and radioactive fallout in the air, The Blacksmith Institute has created a list of the world's worst ecological disaster areas.
Nov 28, 2011, 11:16 AM
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2010-2014 Pollution Prevention (P2) Program Strategic Plan View
The broad mission of EPA’s Pollution Prevention (P2) Program is to prevent pollution at the source, promote the use of greener substances, and conserve natural resources, which are critical steps towards achieving a sustainable society. P2 is a cornerstone of the sustainability movement, which strives to ensure that our children and grandchildren inherit a world that is as good as today, or preferably better.
Nov 28, 2011, 11:01 AM
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Unit 8: Climate Change
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A Planet in Peril: Is Earth Approaching a Tipping Point? View
So it's not the fact that the global environment and the climate are changing that so worries many scientists. It's the rate of change — and whether or not human beings, and everything else that lives on the Earth, can adapt. Because the Earth, it turns out, is changing very, very fast.
As the issue of climate change moved into the forefront of global concerns, Phoenix has demonstrated its leadership by focusing resources on this important issue. Phoenix is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to help ensure a sustainable future.
The Climate Change and Human Health project is designed to provide educators with the resources to engage high school students in critical thinking about climate change and the potential impact on human health across the planet.
Right now, 10 countries — including the U.S., China and Russia — are responsible for 80 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. The United States is the world's second largest emitter (China ranks no. 1), sending around 5.8 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere a year. That's the equivalent to a year's worth of greenhouse gas emissions from 1.1 billion average passenger vehicles.
We've all been affected by Hurricane Sandy. The Sierra Club is cataloging our experiences to continue to push for leadership and policies that fight climate change. Read community submitted stories below, then add your voice to the climate movement by sharing your own story, pictures, or thoughts on Hurricane Sandy.
This is the website that was spawed off of the movie "An Inconvenient Truth," the 2006 Emmy Award winning documentary that explains the scientific implications of Climate Change.
EPA's website provides information on climate change for communities, individuals, businesses, states, localities and governments.
Dec 1, 2011, 7:30 AM
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Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Country, Economic Sector, and Gas View
The Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT or CAIT-International), developed and maintained by the World Resources Institute, provides a comprehensive and comparable database of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data and other climate-relevant indicators.
Hotter summers, stronger hurricanes, melting ice in the polar regions - are these events related to changes in climate due to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from human activity? The evidence gathered by scientists around the world seems to point to this conclusion, one that is becoming more convincing over time.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. The UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.
Former climate change skeptic Richard A. Muller, in a New York Times op-ed, stepped back from his earlier dismissal of global warming. (Los Angeles Times / March 30, 2011)
Welcome to the MathBench Biology Modules! These modules introduce students (and anyone else who's interested) to the mathematical underpinnings of what they learn in introductory biology courses.
But unlike a textbook, the modules are not full of equations and proofs. Instead, we try to bring math to life using intuitive approaches, everyday situations, and even humor.
In 2004, NASA's spending on climate science exceeded all other Federal agencies, combined. NASA spent $1.3 billion on climate science that year, out of a $1.9 billion total. The agency provides information on solar activity, sea level rise, the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans, the state of the ozone layer, air pollution, and changes in sea ice and land ice.
Dec 1, 2011, 8:28 AM
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NPR - Ahead of Climate Talks, U.S. Leadership In Question View
The United States is second only to China in emitting gases that cause global warming. Despite a presidential pledge to reduce emissions two years ago, we're spewing more carbon dioxide than ever into the atmosphere.
Nov 28, 2011, 1:10 PM
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Past Century's Global Temperature Change Is Fastest On Record View
There's plenty of evidence that the climate has warmed up over the past century, and climate scientists know this has happened throughout the history of the planet. But they want to know more about how this warming is different.
Now a research team says it has some new answers. It has put together a record of global temperatures going back to the end of the last ice age — about 11,000 years ago — when mammoths and saber-tooth cats roamed the planet. The study confirms that what we're seeing now is unprecedented.
Mar 8, 2013, 7:43 AM
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PBS - As Global Temperatures Rise, So Do Health Risks View
Ray Suarez reports that, while there may be debate over what's causing global climate change, there is increasing evidence of the effects of a warming planet on human health.
The Climate Reality Project is bringing the facts about the climate crisis into the mainstream and engaging the public in conversation about how to solve it. We help citizens around the world discover the truth and take meaningful steps to bring about change.
If it were not for greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere, the Earth would be a very cold place. Greenhouse gases keep the Earth warm through a process called the greenhouse effect.
KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK
CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Dec 1, 2011, 7:45 AM
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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change View
Almost two decades ago, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change, and to cope with whatever impacts were, by then, inevitable. This was in 1992.
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