Environmental Sciences
(11/20/04)

Teach Evolution and Make it Relevant - University of Montana (accessed: 20 November 2004).
It contains some interesting discussion on the nature of science and teaching science in general, as well as evolution in specific.

Common Assets - Common Assets works to defend the commons from misuse, privatization and destruction.

Northwest Environment Watch - promotes a sustainable economy and way of life in the Pacific Northwest. See also the Cascadia Scorecard and the Scorecard web column.

State of the Global Environment - by Harvard University (edited video and multimedia )
The Global Environment and Public Policy with Professor McElroy --- Mitigating Climate Change with Professors Stavins and Cooper --- The Role of Arts and Humanities with Professor Buell

Gold Mining - The Consequences - see nodirtygold - or more information below

Child Health resources - Directory of Child Health related websites

Gold Mining - a few facts

• A single gold ring leaves in its wake at least 20 tons of mine waste.
  Metal mines in the US produced 46 percent of toxic waste of the total for all US industry combined
• 96 percent of all reported arsenic emissions, and 76 percent of all lead emissions in the US are from metal mines
• Every year, mines in the U.S. generate an amount of waste equivalent in weight to nearly nine times the trash produced by all its cities and towns combined.
• Most gold is not used for essential services; more than 80 percent is used to make jewelry.
• Metals mining is the number one toxic polluter in the United States, responsible for 96 percent of arsenic emissions and 76 percent of lead emissions.
• The world's largest open pit, the Bingham Canyon mine in Utah, is visible to astronauts from outer space. It measures 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) deep and 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) across.
• Metals mining employs just 0.09 percent of the global workforce but consumes as much as 10 percent of world energy.
• According to the International Labour Organization, mining is responsible for 5 percent of workplace deaths each year.
• A single gold mine in Papua New Guinea, the Ok Tedi mine, daily generates 200,000 tons of waste per day-more than all the cities in Japan, Canada and Australia combined.
• Cyanide is used by large mining operations to separate gold from ore. Cyanide pollution is a major concern. A rice-grain sized dose of cyanide can be fatal to humans; concentrations of 1 microgram (one-millionth of a gram) per liter of water can be fatal to fish.

To learn more about the impacts of mining read our report Dirty Metals: Mining, Communities, and the Environment.