The EarthPage - April 2009
The EarthPage is our newsletter email published monthly. It contains the latest in local environmental issues, tips on going green and other items of note. Please take a look at our monthly volunteer calendar. Our members organizations need people to help on dozens of projects around Washington state this month.
Climate Change Impacts Our Birds
Like canaries in coal mines, birds across America are giving early warning signs of what climate change portends for our landscapes and, ultimately, ourselves, according to new reports issued in February by the National Audubon Society and Audubon Washington.
The overall study by Audubon scientists examines 40 years of avian data and shows that nearly 60% of species that winter in North America have moved northward or inland - sometimes by hundreds of miles - most likely in response to climate change.
Five years ago, Audubon Washington's first State of the Birds analysis showed that Washington's growing human population and fragmentation of habitat has severely affected natural places critical to many bird species.
The most direct effects of climate change are changes in precipitation and temperature - which, in turn, drive alterations of entire ecosystems. Birds shift their ranges to find food, shelter, nesting areas, and other conditions necessary for survival.
What was once important wildlife habitat may become inundated by seawater, negatively altered by wildfire patterns, too hot or too cold, too dry or too wet, and no longer able to support plants and organisms necessary to resident or migratory populations. Wildlife that depends on this habitat will need to shift its range - or not survive.
Among Washington bird species that have significantly shifted their ranges in the past decades are Marbled Murrelet, Western Scrub-Jay, Lincoln's Sparrow, Say's Phoebe.
Projections show that the Pacific Northwest will lose 32 percent of the bird species but will gain new species as some move into the rearranged climate and habitats of the region - resulting in a net loss of 16 percent of our total number of bird species. Birds most at risk from habitat loss are those specialized in their habitat needs, including those restricted to islands, alpine zones or coastal beaches for critical parts of their life cycles.
The Audubon Washington 2009 State of the Birds report focuses on the species using the state's 74 Important Bird Areas, or IBAs, places important to birds during some part of their life cycles--breeding, wintering, feeding or migrating. The identification and conservation of IBAs is a global effort spearheaded by BirdLife International, spanning more than 100 countries on every continent, as well as the open oceans.
Read full report here.
EarthCorps' Fifth Anniversary of Earth Month in April 2009
This April is the fifth anniversary of Earth Month! In 2003, when EarthCorps proposed the idea of extending Earth Day into first a week, then a whole month of environmental volunteering, people scoffed. One funder after another denied our requests for sponsorship on the grounds that it wasn't feasible. Finally, The Boeing Company and a dozen individual donors stepped forward to help make it happen. In 2004, we held our first Earth Month, and ushered in the Green Seattle Partnership.
This April, we're planning to work with 2,800 volunteers at 21 projects in nine cities!
EarthCorps' efforts to leverage volunteers to green up city forests is looked to as a national model for rebuilding urban ecosystem infrastructure, similar to how FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps improved our country's parks and natural areas in the 1930s.
Worldwide, EarthCorps alumni are organizing and leading service projects in 60 countries. Many of the projects will happen on Earth Day - a day of worldwide volunteering that embodies EarthCorps' mission to build global community through local environmental service.
You make this possible. Without the commitment and forward thinking of people like you, Earth Month would not have happened. Now that we are making auditable progress reversing the precipitous decline of urban forests, we are expanding our horizons to Puget Sound watersheds as a whole. The ecosystems that feed the region's unique and beautiful waterways are the lifeblood of our region and our economy.
This year's Earth Day projects take place along the Duwamish - Seattle's great river. Along with a coalition of native peoples and nonprofits, government agencies and volunteers, we hope to enable commerce, industry, neighbors and endangered Chinook salmon to coexist on the river.
Please join in supporting EarthCorps this month to help us take this next big leap in establishing a healthy, thriving, sustainable environment in our region. Visit www.earthcorps.org for more details as proudly kickoff our fifth celebration of Earth Month.
Volunteers are still needed for EarthCorps events all around Seattle.
April/EARTH MONTH 2009
- Saturday April 4 Pioneer Park (10am-2pm): Mercer Island Earth Month Kick-off.
- Saturday April 4 Me-Kwa-Mooks Park Earth Month Kick-off (10am-2pm): West Seattle. This is a Green Seattle Partnership project.
- Saturday April 11 Squally Beach (9:30am-3:30pm): Tacoma with Citizens for a Healthy Bay.
- Friday April 17 West Duwamish Greenbelt Brandon/16th Ave (10am-2pm): West Seattle. This is a Green Seattle Partnership project.
- Saturday April 18 DUWAMISH ALIVE ! at West Duwamish Greenbelt/Pigeon Point Park/Cooper Elementary School (9:30am-2pm): West Seattle with NATURE CONSORTIUM. This is a Green Seattle Partnership project.
- Sunday April 19 Pioneer Park (10am-2pm): Mercer Island Earth Day event.
- Saturday April 25 Mowitch (9:30am-3:30pm): Citizens for a Healthy Bay Earth Day event in Tacoma.
- Saturday April 25 Global Youth Service Day at Magnuson Park (10am-2pm): North Seattle. This is a Green Seattle Partnership project.
- Saturday April 25 Island Crest Park (10am-2pm): in Mercer Island.
- Saturday April 25 Juanita Bay Park (10am-2pm): Green Kirkland Partnership Earth Day event
The EarthPage - April: Earth Month
Our monthly newsletter "The EarthPage" just went out and we've included some ideas on what to do to celebrate Earth Month. We have a full calendar with more being added all the time, so be sure to check back for more things coming up this month.
1. Help clean up or restore a park in your neighborhood
This April is the fifth anniversary of Earth Month! In 2003, when EarthCorps proposed the idea of extending Earth Day into first a week, then a whole month of environmental volunteering, people scoffed. One funder after another denied our requests for sponsorship on the grounds that it wasn't feasible. Finally, The Boeing Company and a dozen individual donors stepped forward to help make it happen. In 2004, we held our first Earth Month, and ushered in the Green Seattle Partnership.
This April, we're planning to work with 2,800 volunteers at 21 projects in nine cities!
Click here for the complete story and a park in your area you can help with.
2. Learn more about the environmental challenges we face and what can be done
Check out internationally renowned scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster Dr. David Suzuki reading from and discussing his new book, The Big Picture: Reflections on Science, Humanity, and a Quickly Changing Planet on April 7th.
3. Help Save the Duwamish River
Duwamish Alive! is a chance for people to give back to Seattle's river. On Saturday, April 18, hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers will roll up their sleeves to help restore the Duwamish River. Join volunteers to help restore this culturally significant property and help in the effort to transform this area into a park preserve for the local community. Event activities include planting, invasive weed removal and other restoration projects.
Click here for more on the event.
4. Become a citizen-scientist and conduct a bird survey in an Important Bird Area
Like canaries in coal mines, birds across America are giving early warning signs of what climate change portends for our landscapes and, ultimately, ourselves, according to new reports issued in February by the National Audubon Society and Audubon Washington.
5. Keep it local and green
See what your Puget Sound neighborhood is doing to become a sustainable community or check out your zip code for Earth Month events in your neck of the woods. You can act locally and make a big impact- so why not find out what's happening in your walking or biking area?
