the big issue

As the end of 2009 draws near, climate change is the "big issue" for many of us who follow environmental news and are concerned about our effect on this planet. Ethical choices are clearly outlined by the things we've learned about the changing climate, but certainly many differences of opinion exist.

To provide a few of the best resources for learning more about climate change, ethical issues connected with our behavior, and how to address these matters, here are a few links:

A way to look at "the four sides of the issues" as of right now, by the great innovator Stewart Brand ---

A brief but concise summary of the issues from Worldwatch ---

The much more detailed but excellent links from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme can be found here. One can subscribe free to Global Change magazine at this link.

Download the excellent Climate Change Reference Guide here.

A fine book entitled The Ethics of Climate Change - Right and Wrong in a Warming World by James Garvey - see a set of short reviews here. Philosopher Peter Singer has described Garvey's book as 'a model of philosophical reasoning about one of the greatest challenges any generation has ever faced.'

Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network e-newsletter

Read the latest news on Whimbrels, Red Knots, Oystercatchers and other shorebird species - see the current e-newsletter of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network here.

news from Copenhagen

News from the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is at this link.

Another online resource for birders

Online resources for those who are interested in birds are many. I have such a resource, also - access it at this link. My website provides links to a variety of ornithological resources - in addition to my CV, my field trip information, some links to bird monitoring projects, and the web page for the MCAMMP Project.

BirdLife International News - ecosystems and climate change

BirdLife International has a news alert for Dec. 10 - see it here. And to read more about these topics, see the Worldwide Fund for Nature page, here, and the Nature Conservancy's page on this subject here. An even more in-depth section can be found at this link.

ClimateCounts scores - how big companies are faring

If you go to Climate Counts.org, you can find out here how companies are faring in their attempt to deal with climate change, reduce their emissions, etc.

the missing parts of my education

To truly understand environmental problems at both a local and global scale, there were certain pieces of conceptual understanding that I did not have during my undergraduate and postgraduate education. I am chiefly referring here to economics - in particular to environmental or ecological economics. I am currently attempting to address that conceptual lack by going back to the foundations of this discipline. Right now, I am reading a book that provides a foundation in those concepts I previously had missed. I recommend: Beyond Growth, by economist Herman E. Daly. 1996. Beacon Press, Boston. Read it, and you will possibly come to a similar conclusion: solutions to environmental problems without accompanying and integrated economic solutions are not complete solutions.

Conservation plans for 5 North American shorebird species

Conservation plans for these 5 North American shorebird species

American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus)
American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)
Sanderling (Calidris alba)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)

are available at the website of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.

Their most recent online newsletter is at this link.