With international climate talks just a month away, the American Association for the Advancement of Science is hosting an art and educational exhibit at its Washington headquarters to help adults and children alike see what's at issue.

"Climate Change in Our World” displays five-foot high images and explanatory text depicting some of the climate-change effects already being seen around the planet. The photos are taken by award-winning environmental photojournalist Gary Braasch, who has been documenting climate change and its solutions for a decade.  The images are from a book by Braasch, Earth Under Fire. Pictured above are villagers huddled on an eroding island in Bengladesh.

Along with those images are others targeted at youngsters entitled: “How We Know About Our Changing Climate.” It contains photos from a young-reader science book of the same title co-authored by Braasch and Lynne Cherry. The book tells how scientists are observing changes in nature related to global warming, and explains how young people can learn more and take action themselves.

The exhibit also includes films produced by Cherry, "Young Voices on Climate Change." Pictured here is Clarissa Klein, a California Girl Scout in one of the films whose troop - in a switch from the usual cookie drive - distributed 5000 compact flourescent light bulbs door to door.

The exhibits are open for viewing starting today (Nov. 18) through March 15, 2010 in the gallery at the association's headquarters, 12th & H Streets NW (just north of Metro Center station), Washington, D.C. Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.  But there's a special public opening reception today (Nov. 18) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

(Photos used by permission of Gary Braasch & Lynne Cherry)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Books, Events
        

The folks at B'more Green invited me to visit from Read Street and suggest books with a green living theme. Here are some intriguing releases; I'll be back on a regular basis with new recommendations for your bookshelves. Let us know if you've found other good reads -- in fact, mention one in a comment here and we'll pick a lucky soul for a giveaway.

Running the Numbers: an American self-portrait by Chris Jordan. This visually arresting book accompanies a museum show in which Jordan illustrates the immensity of our wastefulness. In one image, the artist morphs Seurat's "A Sunday on Grand Jatte" by using cans of Sprite, Coke and other drinks in pointillist style to depict the 106,000 aluminum cans used in the U.S. every 30 seconds. Other images continue the environmental theme, though some stray into topics such as handguns and the Iraq war. The traveling show is now at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History; the closest it gets to Baltimore is Haverford College next January.

Farm City by Novella Carpenter. The book begins: "I have a farm on a dead-end street in the ghetto." That's a pretty good summary of her mission to create GhostTown Farm, an unlikely agricultural outpost in Oakland. Carpenter, who studied with locavore guru Michael Pollan, writes of the contrast between gritty city and vege-topia -- what Pollan calls "a mind-meld of Fifty Cent and Wendell Berry."

Continue reading "Books for green living" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Books