As people become increasingly alert to the possible effects of climate change, environmental observances like Earth Day adopt a pressing new significance. Saving the planet slowly changes from a slogan to an urgent call to action.
Photo illustration by Jason Rearick / The Citizen
EARTH FRIENDLY
EARTH FRIENDLY
On Sunday and Monday, Cayuga Community College will host two events aimed at increasing awareness of climate change and taking baby steps toward strengthening man's stewardship of Mother Earth.
The YMCA-WEIU's Young Leaders Club will host an Earth Day Nature Walk through the trails behind the college on Sunday morning.
“It's a good walk, maybe about a mile,” said the club's leader, Bill Brown Jr. of the YMCA.
The hikers will be asked to beautify nature. All those who make the trek will be given bags with which they can collect any garbage found along the trails.
A scavenger hunt will send walkers searching for natural artifacts like Y-shaped twigs or maple leaves. The club will also provide walkers with soil, seeds and small glass jars with which they can make small potted plants to take home with them. They will end their observance of Earth Day by etching on a tree their pledges to continue helping keep the planet clean.
The next day, the college's Conservation Club will help mobilize the minds of local citizens in the fight to prevent climate change with a presentation of Al Gore's “An Inconvenient Truth” slide show by Cayuga County resident Don Manning.
Manning learned the finer points of the presentation at a two-and-a-half-day Climate Project seminar in Nashville with Gore himself serving as tutor.
“He has access to materials that most of us who are in academia don't,” said the club's supervisor, Walt Aikman.
The slide show presents evidence for the existence of global warming collected from climate scientists around the world by former Vice President Gore.
The presentation examines the causes and effects - both current and future - of global warming. A key projection involves the possibility of ice sheets at the planet's poles melting and raising sea levels by up to 20 feet.
Another portion of the presentation shows satellite photos of coastal regions such as Manhattan and New Orleans and how sunken those areas could be should global warming continue along the path projected by scientists.
The “Inconvenient Truth” slideshow raises questions about the future of Earth that are worth weighing on the day devoted to the planet's well-being. This weekend at Cayuga Community College, people can not only learn more about where the planet is heading, but they can take a few small steps to correct its course.
Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
If you go
What: Earth Day Nature Walk
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Cayuga Community
College (behind rear parking lot)
For details: Call 253-5304
What: “An
Inconvenient Truth” slide show
When: 11 a.m. Monday
Where: Cayuga Community College auditorium
For details: Call 255-1743
Other Earth Day events
What: Earth Day animal waste cleanup with St. James' EcoMinistry
When: 10 a.m. and noon Sunday
Where: St. James' Episcopal Church, 96 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles
For details: Call 685-5877
What: “An Inconvenient Truth Revisited”
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 26
Where: Lang Memorial Library, 2577 E. Main St., Cato
For details: Call 626-2101
The YMCA-WEIU's Young Leaders Club will host an Earth Day Nature Walk through the trails behind the college on Sunday morning.
“It's a good walk, maybe about a mile,” said the club's leader, Bill Brown Jr. of the YMCA.
The hikers will be asked to beautify nature. All those who make the trek will be given bags with which they can collect any garbage found along the trails.
A scavenger hunt will send walkers searching for natural artifacts like Y-shaped twigs or maple leaves. The club will also provide walkers with soil, seeds and small glass jars with which they can make small potted plants to take home with them. They will end their observance of Earth Day by etching on a tree their pledges to continue helping keep the planet clean.
The next day, the college's Conservation Club will help mobilize the minds of local citizens in the fight to prevent climate change with a presentation of Al Gore's “An Inconvenient Truth” slide show by Cayuga County resident Don Manning.
Manning learned the finer points of the presentation at a two-and-a-half-day Climate Project seminar in Nashville with Gore himself serving as tutor.
“He has access to materials that most of us who are in academia don't,” said the club's supervisor, Walt Aikman.
The slide show presents evidence for the existence of global warming collected from climate scientists around the world by former Vice President Gore.
The presentation examines the causes and effects - both current and future - of global warming. A key projection involves the possibility of ice sheets at the planet's poles melting and raising sea levels by up to 20 feet.
Another portion of the presentation shows satellite photos of coastal regions such as Manhattan and New Orleans and how sunken those areas could be should global warming continue along the path projected by scientists.
The “Inconvenient Truth” slideshow raises questions about the future of Earth that are worth weighing on the day devoted to the planet's well-being. This weekend at Cayuga Community College, people can not only learn more about where the planet is heading, but they can take a few small steps to correct its course.
Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
If you go
What: Earth Day Nature Walk
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Cayuga Community
College (behind rear parking lot)
For details: Call 253-5304
What: “An
Inconvenient Truth” slide show
When: 11 a.m. Monday
Where: Cayuga Community College auditorium
For details: Call 255-1743
Other Earth Day events
What: Earth Day animal waste cleanup with St. James' EcoMinistry
When: 10 a.m. and noon Sunday
Where: St. James' Episcopal Church, 96 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles
For details: Call 685-5877
What: “An Inconvenient Truth Revisited”
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 26
Where: Lang Memorial Library, 2577 E. Main St., Cato
For details: Call 626-2101
