The Youth Strike for Climate raised important global attention to interconnected climate, energy and environmental issues -- it also compelled us to consider what we will do to address these pressing challenges. Developed through consideration of such dynamics, we propose critical energy literacy as an emerging theory that denotes understanding of…

Carbon dioxide from automobiles is a major contributor to global climate change. In "Virtual Rewards for Driving Green," Josh Pritchard proposes a computer application that will enable fuel-efficient drivers to earn "green" dollars with which to buy digital merchandise on the Web. Can getting items that exist only in cyberspace actually change a…

Colleges and universities have widely responded to the expectation that they should work toward, operate under, and live by principles of sustainability. Eighty-nine of the 260-plus institutions of higher learning in New England (34 percent) have signed the "American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment" to guide their…

Colleges and universities throughout the nation are stepping up their environmental accountability. All 50 states are represented in the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, a "high-visibility effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse-gas emissions and…

This monograph explores how architecture is influenced by and is responding to the global energy dilemma. Emphasis is placed on conservation techniques (using heavy insulation) and on passive solar construction (supplying most of a building's heating, cooling, and lighting requirements by sunlight). The basic problem is that architecture, like…

The conditions and trends for four clusters of global issues--the air and the sky, the fishes and the sea, the creatures and the land, and people and poverty--are presented. The topics of climate change, the ozone hole, air pollution, biological diversity, deforestation, and desertification are discussed. (KR)

This lecture recounts personal experiences and discusses environmental issues that invoked a desire to teach about the things threatening the earth. Human population growth is cited as the first and foremost environmental challenge in the 20th century. A J-shaped curve is used to illustrate an increase in human population. The relationship between…

There are more people being affected by environmental change than ever before. The deterioration of the earth's physical condition appears to be accelerating. This sixth in a series of annual reports is a collection of 10 essays detailing the major threats to global environmental security and possible responses to them. Included are: (1) "A World…