Chapter 30

Chapter 30 - Earth's Diverse Ecosystems

Linda K's Human Impact on the Environment PowerPoint Presentation - once the slide with the quote from the Bhagavid Gita comes up toward the end of the presentation, the slide show will proceed automatically. No further clicks of the mouse are necessary.

Reporting on Climate Change: Understanding the Science - This site contains chapters that offer a primer in climate change, including both ozone and greenhouse problems (see the table of contents). Reporters are a primary target audience for this site, so it is very readable for the layperson. It is organized as a series of chapters, with certain topics summarized in "Boxes." "Facts and Myths" is a neat site containing more than 50 climate change questions for the reader; answers are only a click away! There is also a "Sources for Additional Information" section that contains dozens of such sources. This is a site of the Environmental Health Center, a division of the National Safety Council.

Primary Conditions for Life - This site provides some very interesting information on what conditions are necessary for life and if we, the inhabitants of Earth, are just plain lucky to have those conditions

The Nature Conservancy Home Page - The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is one of the leading NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) active in conservation biology and endangered species preservation. They founded the Heritage Inventory Program, where they catalog biodiversity at the state, national, and international levels. From their home page, access the magazine, conservation news, and conservation science resources (including the species status databases). Access a map of species extinctions in the United States by clicking on "Conservation Science," then "Science Library," then "1997 Species Report Card: The State of U.S. Plants and Animals," then the summary in the table of contents.

The Washington Gap Analysis Home Page - Gap analysis is a procedure that analyzes the type of habitats present in a particular area (in this case, the state of Washington), and then, by applying what is known about the habitat requirements of the species of organisms in the area, produces a map of their predicted distribution. This site offers access to a habitat map of the state and the distributions of the terrestrial vertebrate species found there.

SeaWeb - This is a great site for exploring the oceans via the Web. "The Oceans Update," a regularly published ocean issues report, is available on-line at this site. Other news items, a section linking to radio programs, and other such information is available here, as well. Possibly the best resource is their section offering links to more than 60 additional Web sites (professional and popular) that are concerned with ocean issues. These sites range from fisheries organizations to conservation groups. Individuals can also search the SeaWeb database or sign up for e-mail information and updates. This is a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts. According to the site, "SeaWeb's approach is objective but not neutral. Our bias is to protect the living ocean."

Ecosystems of Our World - Ten categories of biomes or ecosystem types, including marine island and mountaintop types, are featured in this site. Clicking on the name of each type produces a picture and brief description of the biome (sound clips are also available). This site is a "ThinkQuest Contest" student project. It is part of an environmental site named "Save Our Earth," which has other environmental topics and which are reached by going to "Topics" at the bottom of the ecosystems page. Examples include "Endangered Animals," "Links," and "Ways to Help." "Links" is especially useful for obtaining additional information.

Return to NSCI-120 Chapter Overview Page

Go to Linda K's Home Page

Go to the Site Directory

E-mail: astrok110@hotmail.com

This page was last updated on: February 12, 2006