Greenversations

As the migratory birds of North America start their yearly trek to warmer areas, birdwatchers may feast their eyes on new visitors passing through backyards and parks. While this yearly event may be often ignored by the average citizen, our daily actions have a definite impact on bird populations no matter where you live. Certain bird species are threatened by human activities, reduced habitats, pollution, and climate change, among other factors. Simple steps we take at home and in our community can protect the environment and go a long way to protect our avian visitors during their migration.

At home, my mother and I have always debated which is better for the birds: providing bird feeders with abundant birdseeds year-round or planting native plants in the backyard. I thought that by providing birdfeeders along migratory routes you were making birds stay longer in northern areas instead of migrating on time. Research on the subject indicated that seasonal changes rather than abundance of seeds were the determining factor for bird migration. There isn’t one easy answer to the birdfeeder debate. Definitely, if you decide to set up birdfeeders in your backyard, maintenance and placement of the feeder play a role in the protection of the birds. Furthermore, you should clean the feeders regularly to prevent mold from developing and harming the birds. Personally, I prefer greenscaping techniques like integrated pest management and planting native shrubs and trees that naturally invite birds and other wildlife to your backyard.

There is no doubt that pollution prevention and bird conservation initiatives [http://www.epa.gov/owow/birds/bird.html] overall will both have a positive impact on our feathered friends and our Planet Earth. So, how about pledging to take five simple steps in environmental protection? You can start today! [http://www.epa.gov/pick5/]

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.

“Are glaciers melting at alarming rates?” “Is climate change really happening?” I have been asked these questions by people and students outside the environmental field. Changes in glaciers seem to be the gold standard for measuring climate change. However, living in the Caribbean, to me glaciers seem like a distant world.

A recent vacation to Alaska on a cruise ship provided me some insight on climate change and its consequences. While in Juneau I visited Mendenhall Glacier and could notice the retreating of this glacier upon my hike in the adjoining rain forest. An old building deep inside the forest revealed the former visitor’s center more than 10 miles from the glacier’s current location as well as a stone marking from 1916 of the ice limit.

Managed by the U.S. Forest Service and part of the Tongass National Forest (the nation’s largest forest), Mendenhall, which is 12 miles long, has been rapidly retreating since 1750. From 1951–1958, the glacier, which flows into suburban Juneau, has retreated 1,900 feet (580 m). The glacier has also receded 1.75 miles (2.82 km) since 1958, when Mendenhall Lake was created. In 2004 the glacier retreated 600 feet and in 2007 another 500 ft..

Glaciers form in areas with large amounts of rain and extremely low temperatures. When snow accumulates, it compacts underlying snow layers from previous years into solid ice. Glaciers cover 10% of our world’s total area. This is the same amount of land used worldwide for agriculture. Glacier and polar ice store more water than all the world’s lakes, rivers and the atmosphere combined. When they melt, sea level rises thus consequences for coastal communities and islands are serious. Rising sea levels inundate wetlands and other low-lying lands In Juneau, I could not help noticing that the Gastineau Channel turns into a wetland at some point during the day. There was a low tide early in the morning. Our forest interpreter told us it is becoming increasingly unavigable as there has been a marked increase in silt build up. Some research into this showed that it has been argued that this a consequence of melting and retreating of Mendenhall Glacier. If current trends continue, it is possible the channel may be entirely blocked and filled with dry land.

Yes indeed, climate change is happening and it is tangible. EPA is working on many programs geared to reduce the harmful effects on human health and the environment of green house gases. While most are voluntary, states and industries are actively engaged. I invite you to take a closer look at your daily activities and try to cut down on your carbon footprint.

About the author: Brenda Reyes Tomassini joined EPA in 2002. She is a public affairs specialist in the San Juan, Puerto Rico office and also handles community relations for the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division.

“Se están derritiendo los glaciares de forma alarmante?” “Es el cambio climático real?” estas son dos de las preguntas más frecuentes que me hacen estudiantes y personas externas al campo ambiental. Y es que los cambios en los glaciares son el indicador por excelencia para medir el cambio climático. Sin embargo, viviendo en un lugar tan caluroso como el Caribe, los glaciares parecen ser un fenómeno lejano para muchas personas como yo.

Recientemente tuve la oportunidad de visitar Alaska en un crucero y conocer de cerca las implicaciones del cambio climático en los glaciares. En Juneau, capital de Alaska, visité el Glaciar Mendenhall cuya disminución es notable. Mientras escalaba en el bosque pluvial aledaño al glaciar nuestra intérprete de bosque nos mostró el Centro de Información original del Servicio Forestal. . Este está ubicado a más de 10 millas de donde se encuentra hoy el glaciar. Una piedra sepultada entre los árboles marca el límite del hielo en el año 1916. Este bosque y el glaciar pertenecen a la Reserva Nacional Tongass, el bosque más grande de los Estados Unidos.

El Glaciar Mendenhall mide 12 millas de largo y se encuentra cediendo desde 1750. De 1951 a 1958 el glaciar, que es parte de Juneau, ha retrocedido 1,900 pies (580m). Desde 1958 al presente ha recedido 1.75 millas (2.82 km) lo que resultó en la creación del Lago Mendenhall en donde flotan enormes pedazos de hielo. En el año 2004 el Glaciar retrocedió 600 pies y en 2007 otros 500 pies.

Los glaciares se forman en áreas que reciben cantidades exorbitantes de lluvia y la temperatura es baja. Cuando la nieve se acumula, se compacta en capas y esas capas a su vez forman hielo sólido. Los glaciares cubren el 10% de la superficie terrestre, la misma cantidad de tierra destinada a la agricultura a nivel mundial. Los glaciares y el hielo polar almacenan más agua que todos los ríos y lagos del mundo combinados con la atmósfera. Cuando se derriten, el nivel del mar aumenta impactando las comunidades costeras y las islas. Sus efectos pueden ser serios ya que inundan humedales y otras tierras bajas

En Juneau, el Canal Gastineu se convierte en un humedal en tempranas horas de la mañana para luego ser inundado con agua en las tardes. Sin embargo el canal es cada día menos navegable por el aumento en sedimentos, no por la ausencia de agua. Al buscar información sobre este curioso fenómeno encontré que esto es consecuencia directa del derretimiento y retracción del Glaciar Mendenhall. De continuar esta tendencia, es posible que en un futuro el canal pueda ser un relleno de tierra seca.

Ciertamente el cambio climático está sucediendo y es un fenómeno tangible. Nuestra agencia continúa su labor de educar a la ciudadanía sobre los efectos dañinos a la salud y al medioambiente causados por los gases de invernaderos. Aunque muchos de estos programas son voluntarios, los estados y las industrias se encuentran arduamente buscando formas de reducir su huella de carbón. Le invito a que tome nota sobre sus actividades diarias y encuentre como puede reducir su contribución a los gases de invernadero.

Sobre la autor: Brenda Reyes Tomassini se unió a la EPA en el 2002. Labora como especialista de relaciones públicas en la oficina de EPA en San Juan, Puerto Rico donde también maneja asuntos comunitarios para la División de Protección Ambiental del Caribe.

Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays.

The Amazon basin contains more than half the world’s remaining tropical rainforest, and is facing unprecedented changes that will have major impacts on biodiversity, regional hydrology and the global carbon cycle.

But the need for employment is causing tropical deforestation on a vast scale.

Stopping deforestation requires forest management strategies that provide jobs for people living in or near forests while also creating incentives for forest conservation. The andiroba tree (C. guianensis)- valued for the high-quality oil extracted from its seeds and for its mahogany-like timber—could provide this opportunity.

Collect the seeds, cut down the tree, or a little of both?

Through my research, I am looking at the intersection of conservation and economics related to harvesting C. guianensis. I am using ecological models with an economic component to answer the question: Under what ecological and market conditions would the collection of C. guianensis seed oil be favored and, conversely, under what ecological and market conditions would C. guianensis timber harvest be favored?

Since 2004, I have been measuring growth, survival and reproduction of C. guianensis trees at my research site in the Brazilian Agricultural Research Institute’s 1,200-hectare research forest in Acre, Brazil.

Using these measurements, I plan to fine-tune models about future tree growth under various management scenarios, as well as identify how different life stages, such as seedlings, saplings, mature trees, etc., contribute to growth of the entire tree population. For example, it is possible that leaving a certain number of reproducing trees per hectare would maintain a growing population, leaving other, non-reproductive trees to be harvested?

I will use the new model to determine sustainable harvest limits for both timber and seed, and then incorporate the results into a financial assessment of these two competing strategies to manage the species. To ensure that the tree population is maintained and that it generates income, I plan to compare the relative compatibility of timber vs. seed harvest.

After I finish writing up my results, I will return to Brazil to give a series of training workshops and seminars on my results so they can be applied to forest management practices. In addition, I will compile materials (including comic-book-like illustrated pamphlets) that break down my results into tools that can benefit forest residents and local nongovernmental organizations. By sharing my research results in this way, I hope that I can provide important information to the local Brazilian government and play a part in helping people living near the forest find a sustainable way to create income based on a standing (or managed) forest.

About the author: Christie Klimas is a PhD student at the University of Florida in the department of Forest Resources and Conservation. A 2004-2006 EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Graduate Research Fellowship supported her Master’s Degree research.

I just got back from a brief family vacation in Puerto Rico. Since my 7-year old had never visited the island, I decided to play tour guide so she would “discovery” the Island.

In order to experience different sites and sounds, we decided to venture outside of the San Juan Metropolitan area. We started with a visit to El Yunque National Forest, the only rainforest part of the U.S. Forest Service. This area of 28,000 acres is well known for its biodiversity. More than 100 billion gallons of precipitation fall each year. My daughters were truly impressed by the luscious greenery and sounds of the rainforest. I had to convince the little one that the chirping came from little frogs, the coquis, not birds. We all enjoyed El Yunque. It has the potential of being designated as one of the new 7 wonders of the world!  Definitely has my vote!

Another escapade took us to the southeastern town of Salinas which faces the Caribbean Sea. My daughters were struck by the rich aquamarine colors of the sea. We had lunch at an open terrace restaurant right at the coast. The children were entertained by a family of crabs that was playing on the sea-bathed rocks.

During another day excursion, we walked through the cobblestone streets visiting the historic sites of Old San Juan including forts, museums, and a pigeon park. A short film at the San Felipe del Morro Fort described the role these forts had played in defending the capital of Puerto Rico during Spanish colonial times. After exploring the historical venues, we enjoyed tropical flavored Puerto Rican snow cones commonly referred to on the Island as piraguas.

During the course of our vacation, we took time to visit with family, attend my high school reunion, and enjoy the beaches. When it was time to bid farewell, we took one last drive along Piñones, an area along the northern coast outside of San Juan to enjoy some Puerto Rican culinary delights (alcapurrias and bacalaítos) which we washed down with some fresh coconut water. We drank it straight from the coconut. It was truly a memorable experience.

We packed many events during our brief sojourn in Puerto Rico. We’ll have to schedule day excursions to visit the karst region, Camuy Caverns, and the bioluminescent bay in Vieques. Next time.

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.

Acabo de regresar de unas breves vacaciones familiares en Puerto Rico. Como mi hija de 7 años de edad nunca había visitado la Isla, decidí servir de guía para ayudarla a “descubrirla”.
Para experimentar sitios y sonidos diferentes, nos aventurarnos fuera del área metropolitana de San Juan. Empezamos con una visita al Bosque Nacional del Yunque, el único bosque pluvial tropical que forma parte del Servicio de Bosques de EE.UU. Esta área de 28,000 acres es conocida por su biodiversidad. Más de 100 mil millones de galones de precipitación caen anualmente. Mis hijas estaban impresionadas por el exuberante verdor y la riqueza de sonidos. Tuve que convencer a la pequeña que el supuesto gorgojeo que escuchaba provenía de pequeñas ranitas, los coquíes, no de aves. Realmente disfrutamos El Yunque. Tiene el potencial de ser designado como una de las siete maravillas del mundo! ¡Voy a él!

En otra escapada fuimos al pueblo costero del sudoeste de Salinas que mira al Mar Caribe. Mis hijas estaban impresionadas con la gama de tonos aquamarina del mar. Almorzamos en un restauran de terraza abierta frente a la costa. Las niñas se entretuvieron mirando una familia de cangrejos que jugaban sobre las rocas bañadas rítmicamente por las olas.

Otro día caminamos por las calles de adoquines para visitar los sitios históricos del Viejo San Juan incluyendo fuertes, museos y el Parque de las Palomas. Una breve película sobre el Fuerte de San Felipe del Morro describió el papel que desempeñaron estos fuertes en la defensa de la capital de Puerto Rico durante la época colonial española. Después de explorar los sitios históricos, disfrutamos de unas deliciosas piraguas* con sabores tropicales

Durante el curso de nuestras vacaciones, también aprovechamos para visitar a familiares, asistir a mi reunión de escuela superior, y disfrutar de las playas. Cuando llegó el momento de despedirnos, decidimos guiar por Piñones, un área a lo largo de la costa norte entre San Juan y Luquillo para disfrutar de especialidades culinarias puertorriqueñas como alcapurrias y bacalaitos que nos tomamos con agua de coco bien fría. El agua de coco la tomamos directamente del coco y nos comimos lo que en Puerto Rico se conoce como “la telita.”’ Fue una experiencia inolvidable.

Aunque tuvimos la oportunidad de realizar varias actividades durante nuestra breve estadía, todavía nos queda por visitar la región kárstica, las Cuevas de Camuy, y la Bahía Mosquito bioluminiscente de Vieques. Ya será la próxima vez.

*Piragua—un refresco granizado puertorriqueño

Sobre la autor: Lina M. F. Younes ha trabajado en la EPA desde el 2002 y está a cargo del Grupo de Trabajo sobre Comunicaciones Multilingües. Como periodista, dirigió la oficina en Washington de dos periódicos puertorriqueños y ha laborado en varias agencias gubernamentales.

As the Beach Program Coordinator for EPA’s office in Chicago, I’m often asked whether it’s safe to swim in Lake Michigan. My answer is yes, it is safe to swim in the lake, but there are things that swimmers need to know before they go to the beach to help keep themselves - and others - from getting sick at the beach.

When you’re at the beach, be sure to wash your hands as soon as you leave the water and alwaysbefore eating anything. Don’t feed the birds, as their fecal matter can contribute to poor water quality and may cause beach closures. Also, be sure to use the bathroom facilities when nature calls, and encourage your friends to do the same. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at the beach and hear people tell their friends they have to go to the bathroom - then watch them get up and walk towards the shore! The most important tip is make sure that you stay out of the water if you are sick, as you may share your illness with others.

Even though many beaches are regularly tested for bacteria levels, it can take up to a day to get water quality samples back from the lab, so water quality results aren’t posted until the following day. Being an informed swimmer will help keep you healthy. I generally tell beach goers that a good rule to follow is to avoid swimming during, and up to a day or two after, a rainstorm. Pollutants, such as fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste, may be washed off the land and into the water during the rain, which could pollute the beach water.

What do you do when you see a sign at the beach that advises against swimming? Swimming in contaminated water can make you sick, ranging from sore throats and diarrhea to more serious illnesses. EPA and CDC are currently studying the relationship between water quality and illness, and the results of the study, due out in 2011, will help better protect swimmers.

In the meantime, you can help make your favorite beaches better during your summer break by volunteering to adopt a beach! Go to the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ website at greatlakes.org to find out how you can become part of their Adopt-a-Beach TM program.  Volunteers help collect data on different aspects of their beach to investigate pollution sources, collect and dispose of litter, and sample water quality. Or visit http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=icc_home in the 24th annual International Coastal Cleanup on September 19. Let’s keep our beaches clean! Do you know of other ways to volunteer to keep our beaches clean? Share your stories and contacts with us here!!

About the author: Holly Wirick started with EPA in 1991 and has served as the Regional Beach Program Coordinator since EPA’s Beach Program was established in 1997.

Students participate in the Baldwin County Grasses in Classes program to help grow native plants for wetland and dune restoration projects.

Do you want to educate, inspire, and engage students, scouts, park, zoo or museum visitors, or even your neighbors and family members to do something about climate change and how it may affect wildlife and their precious habitats? We (Karen, a former teacher and Mike, who monitors local water quality as a volunteer for the Audubon Naturalist Society) are impassioned about the climate change issue, especially as it may affect wildlife and wild places, and how important it is to get everyone involved in solving the problems associated with it. So two years ago we gathered together educators from 6 other federal agencies to develop the new Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit for Formal and Informal Educators to help the educator in each of us spread the word on what is at stake and what we can do about it.

It was not an easy task to find and organize staff members from agencies as diverse as National Park Service, NASA, NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management, but we were determined to create an educational product that demonstrated a strong, unified voice on climate change and that was built on the efforts of scientists and educators from government agencies that work on issues involving climate change, wildlife and wild places. After two years of meetings, phone calls, emails, data dumps, arguments, hugs, long drives to video shoots, and lunches for grousing and/or celebrating, we are extremely proud and excited about the end result of this truly unique collaboration.

Please go to the inter-agency U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) site where the toolkit is being hosted and see for yourself! Let us know what you think!

About the Authors: Karen Scott is an Environmental Education Specialist for the EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education after spending more than 10 years with EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Programs, Climate Change Division. Michael Kolian is a physical scientist with EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Programs, Climate Change Division.

Relaxing in your backyard. Hiking in a national park. Birding in a wetland. We all have a favorite place where we go to connect with nature. June is Great Outdoors Month.

What’s your favorite place out in the environment?

Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.

Summer vacation is fast approaching and many parents are looking for activities to entertain their children during the summer months. Now is the best time to plan ahead so you and your children can find fun ways to explore the environment and learn about science at summer camps and children’s museums throughout the country. In the Washington area, there are many museum-related science enrichment opportunities for children. Organizations like 4-H, the Boys and Girls Scouts of America also offer fun and hands-on activities during the summer and year round. In fact, these organizations were engaging youth in environmental protection even before going green became the latest fad.

EPA’s website offers a variety of fun facts and projects for students and educators to learn more about the environment and the importance of science in our daily lives. For example, the Water Science and Technology Office, provides interesting activities, science projects and games. The Agency’s Office of Environmental Education offers educational resources, grants opportunities and fellowships to encourage individuals to learn more about how their actions affect the environment. This knowledge is essential to enable them to make better informed decisions to protect the world we live in.

In speaking with many of my colleagues at EPA and other federal agencies such as NASA,  NOAA,  USGS, there is one common theme in their motivation to pursue a career in the sciences. In the majority of the cases, their love of science did not start in the classroom. It started with personal experiences at home, a trip to the park, a visit to the beach, a fishing trip, a starry spring evening… These simple experiences helped awaken their sense of wonder and awe at an early age. This sense of exploration for the world around us is essential for any researcher or scientist. Why do we see lightning before hearing thunder? Why do certain elements react the way they do? What are the impacts of human activities on the environment?

We don’t have to have Ph.D’s to teach our children to explore their surroundings. There are simple steps we can take to protect our environment. And when you come to think about it, at the heart of many of these activities, you will find science. So let the fun begin!