The website that teaches students to listen with the power of public radio, Listen Current has featured two current events stories about water. The stories explore the ways in which water is controlled by the government and affected by instability. Access the audio files and lesson plans at the Listen Current website (you can register for a free account to access all teaching materials).

From EGU  --  Christos Zerefos and his team of Greek and German researchers have recently found that the colours of sunsets painted by artists as far back as 1500 can actually tell us how polluted the atmosphere was in the past!

Courtesy of National Geographic, here is a video clip from a COSMOS episode. In it, host Neil deGrasse Tyson uses the analogy of walking a dog on the beach to helpfully explain the difference between climate and weather and to outline why, no matter how cold you were in January, that's no argument against global warming.

From EARTH Magazine  --  When author John-Manuel Andriote returned to his hometown in New England after years away, he noticed something that had been invisible to him while growing up there - the old stone walls tumbling off into the forests. The realization that the crumbling and overgrown walls meant those forests had once been cleared farm lands set Andriote on a years-long journey of discovery that highlights the intersections of geologic and human history.

From EGU  --  Imagine putting a mirror into space to reflect sunlight away from the Earth to combat global warming. It may sound like something out of a science fiction film, but this is exactly what some scientists, called geoengineers, have actually been considering in the ongoing battle against climate change.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), an Earth Science Week partner, provides learning opportunities for teachers and students at all levels. For example, DOE’s Energy Education & Workforce Development web site offers hundreds of K-12 lesson plans.

From EARTH Magazine  --  On a beautiful, clear June morning in 1954, a massive wave suddenly swept out of Lake Michigan killing at least seven people along the Chicago waterfront. At the time, the wave was attributed to a storm that had earlier passed over northern Lake Michigan, but how it came to swamp faraway Chicago, with no warning, was not understood.

Endangered Species Day - May 16, 2014

Endangered Species Youth Art Contest - deadline March 15, 2014

President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law on December 28, 1973. Our legislators understood that, without protection from human actions, many of our nation's living resources would become extinct.  NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) share responsibility for implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

From EARTH Magazine  --  In 2012, the world experienced dozens of extreme weather events, including droughts, heat waves, cold spells, extreme rainfalls, big storms like Superstorm Sandy, and a record-low Arctic sea-ice extent. Teasing apart the factors that create extreme weather is a challenge for scientists, especially when it comes to determining whether human-induced climate change plays a role.

From the American Museum of Natural History  --  How soon will Earth's ozone layer recover? In this online event, connect with NOAA scientists to explore a new data visualization about the 2013 ozone hole and predictions for recovery. Strategies for interpreting the visualization for educational audiences will be addressed.  The Hangout will highlight a newly released data visualization about the status of Earth’s ozone layer, designed for informal education at museums and science centers.