Prelim

Arctic Ice
"The floating cap of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean shrank this summer..."

This is the opening line of a Thursday, September 29, 2005 New York Times front page article titled In a Melting Trend, Less Arctic Ice to Go Around. The interesting part of this article is the notion that the shrinking of the ice cap may now be self-sustaining because the open water absorbs solar energy that would otherwise be reflected back into space.
Web Link - the NYT article

The NYT article includes a web link for The National Snow and Ice Data Center. NSIDC provides web pages devoted specifically to ocean currents and sea ice.

"Ocean currents transport heat from the equator to the poles through a heat -and saline- driven process called thermohaline circulation. Warm water moves from the equator northward along the ocean surface and eventually cools. As it cools, it becomes dense and heavy and sinks. This cold water then moves south along the lower part of the ocean and rises near the equator to complete the cycle. Like the atmospheric heat transport discussed earlier, this is a natural process that contributes to a proper temperature balance across the earth. It also explains why Europe is relatively warm, because as northward flowing surface water in the Atlantic Ocean cools, heat is released to the atmosphere."

"Although the ocean is salty, the sea ice on top of the Arctic ocean is fresh - fresh enough to drink. This is because sea ice expels salt into the water as it forms. When the ice moves south through the Fram Strait into the North Atlantic, it melts, creating a layer of fresh water over the ocean surface. This fresh water is less dense than salty water, so it tends to stay at the top of the ocean. This discourages the normal process of sinking at high latitudes (poles) that supports thermohaline circulation, which makes it harder to move the warm water north from the equator. Strong evidence shows that this stagnation process happened over a period of several years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when extra fresh water entered the North Atlantic and affected the climate of northern Europe. Scientists call this event the "Great Salinity Anomaly."

Find more interesting facts about ocean currents and SEA ICE at this web link.
Web Link - Sea Ice
 

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School Food
Healthy eating habits, knowledge of food basics, and the understanding of sustainability are noble aspirations when it comes to educating children about their world. Knowledge provides options.

Here are links to web sites where intelligent and inspiring work is being done to assist children with food and health.

Center for Ecoliteracy
Rethinking School Lunch
The Center for Ecoliteracy is dedicated to education for sustainable living. The Center for Ecoliteracy was founded in 1995 by Fritjof Capra, Peter Buckley, and Zenobia Barlow. The Center for Ecoliteracy is a public foundation that supports a grantmaking program for educational organizations and school communities, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area; convenes networks of its grantees; sponsors projects consistent with its mission; administers donor-advised funds; and manages a publishing imprint, Learning in the Real WorldŽ.
Web Link - Rethinking School Lunch

Farm-to-college
About Farm-to-College
Farm-to-college programs connect colleges and universities with producers in their area to provide local farm products for meals and special events on campus. These programs may be small and unofficial, mainly involving special dinners or other events, or they may be large and well-established, with many local products incorporated into cafeteria meals every day.
Web Link - Farm-to-college

Farm to School
Welcome to National Farm to School on the web!
Farm to School programs are popping up all over the U.S. These programs connect schools with local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing health and nutrition education opportunities that will last a lifetime, and supporting local small farmers.
Web Link - Farm to School
Web Link - Farm to School - links

Stonyfield Farms
Menu for Change Program
The Stonyfield Farm Menu for Change Program has 6 ingredients designed to work with community groups to help schools offer healthier food choices to their students, to encourage parents in their children's healthy eating habits, and to raise public awareness about the importance of improving child health and nutrition. We build partnerships at the local level, and advocate for public policy changes at the state and national levels.

• Healthy Vending Machines
• Parent Action Kit
• Organic Lunchbox
• Advocacy
• Celebrating Success!
• Community Partnerships and Projects

Web Link - Stonyfield Farms
Web Link - Good2Go
Web Link - What you can do
Web Link - Bringing Healthier Foods Into Schools

Wallace Stegner

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The Spectator Bird

"On a February morning, when a weather front is moving in off the Pacific but has not quite arrived, and the winds are changable and gusty and clouds drive over and an occassional flurry of fine rain darkens the terrace bricks, this place conforms to none of the cliches about California with which they advertise the Sunshine Cities for the Sunset Years. No bland sky, no cool morning overcast, no placid afternoons fading into chilly evenings. This is North Sea weather. The sky boils with cloud, the sun glares out now and then like the opening eye of a doped patient, and the brief beam of intelligence it shoots forth lights on the hills and turns a distant subdivision into a view of Toledo."

Opening paragraph from:
The Spectator Bird
by Wallace Stegner
1976

Web Link - Amazon link