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Prepare for Your Green Career: Improve Your Ecoliteracy

By Carol McClelland

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 17Jul2009 Word count: 695 Viewed: 276 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Although there are a number of good reasons to create a sustainable economy, one of the biggest motivators is the state of the earth's climate. Familiarizing yourself with the topics of global warming, climate change and related issues provides you with a strong foundation of knowledge.

Ecoliteracy is essential as you identify and build your green career. Understanding the issues, being able to sort out the ramifications of different actions, and following detailed scientific explanations not only give you credibility in your green career, it also helps you spot problems and opportunities that may align with your talents and interests.

Check out several of the following resources to pick up different nuances and additional facts about global warming and climate change. In addition to confirming the facts, repetition is an effective way to commit these topics to memory so when they come up in conversation you can follow the conversation and contribute in a meaningful way.

- National Geographic's Environment site (http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming) has an in-depth section on global warming that includes discussions about the causes, effects, solutions, science, and alternative energy sources. You can also select from a list of global warming topics to explore in more depth.

- The PEW Center on Global Climate Change (www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics) offers sections on Climate Change 101 and Global Warming Basics as well as a number of fact sheets and summary publications.

- The site for the documentary, An Inconvenient Truth (www.climatecrisis.net/thescience/index.html), provides a one-page summary of the science behind climate change, and another page on the actions you can take. If you haven't yet seen the movie, take the opportunity to do that as well. Whether you purchase a copy or rent it (www.climatecrisis.net/aboutthedvd), you'll gain valuable insights about how we got where we are now.

- The Natural Resources Defense Council provides a detailed Q&A section on Global Warming Basics (www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/f101.asp), and a five-step plan to solve global warming (www.nrdc.org/globalWarming).

- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (www.weather.gov/om/brochures/climate/Climatechange.pdf) has produced an informative two-page brochure on climate change that addresses natural climate fluctuations as well as those influenced by human activity on the planet.

- If you want to take an even closer look at climate change issues, take a look at Washington State's Department of Ecology website (www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/whatis.htm).

With a firm foundation of the basic issues under your belt, take the next step to discover how these issues are impacting different regions of the country and the world. With this information you may be able to discover a specific need that must be addressed in your area.

- The United States Global Change Research Program (www.globalchange.gov) spotlights the key issues, and then illustrates their impact on each region of the country and each sector of the economy. When you land on the home page, scroll down to the map to explore the impact of global changes on your region.

- In the book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America, Thomas Friedman offers his perspective of how global warming issues (hot) interact with two other major trends (flat and crowded) to create a massive opportunity and need for innovation and a new way of doing business. Reading or listening to this book will give you an appreciation of the global nature of the problem.

Remember, you don't have to know everything all at once. Pace yourself as you become ecoliterate. Set a goal to visit one of these sites each day or each week. As you understand more of the issues, you'll be able to make connections and add more in-depth information to what you already know.

The more you understand about the issues of global warming and climate change, the easier it will be to understand the issues involved in legislation, policies, treaties, and local politics. You'll be able to evaluate various options to determine whether they make sense or they are off the mark.

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