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Welcome to the Earth Day free resources site.
Environmental Science - An Overview
Environmentalism is the ethical and political perspective that places
the health, harmony, and integrity of the natural environment at the
center of human attention and concern. Although there are many
different views among environmentalists, as a group they tend to
emphasize the interdependence of life and the conditions that make
life possible. All animals, including human beings, need clean air to
breathe, clean water to drink, and nutritious food to eat and all
living things on our planet are interconnected by these needs. For
example, fish contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB),
mercury, and other toxic substances are not only hazardous to humans
but to bears, eagles, gulls, and other predators. Likewise, mighty
whales depend on tiny plankton, cows on corn, koala bears on
eucalyptus leaves, bees on flowers, and flowers on bees and birds, and
so on through all species and ecosystems. All animals, human and
nonhuman alike, are interdependent participants in the cycle of birth,
life, death, decay, and rebirth.
Utilitarian vs. Deep Ecology
While environmentalists agree on some issues, there are a number of
disagreements among them about the purposes of environmentalism and
about how to best achieve those ends. Some environmentalists emphasize
the desirability of conserving natural resources for recreation,
sightseeing, hunting, and other human activities, both for present and
future generations of human beings. Proponents of deep ecology believe
that the natural environment has its own intrinsic value apart from
any aesthetic, recreational, or other value assigned to it by human
beings.
Methods
Environmentalists also differ on how best to conserve, reserve, and
protect the natural environment. Some groups, such as the Sierra Club
and the Nature Conservancy, favor gradual, low-key legislative and
educational efforts to inform and influence policy makers and the
general public about environmental issues. Other more radical
environmental groups, such as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
and Earth First!, favor carrying out direct action by employing the
tactics of ecotage (ecological sabotage), or monkey-wrenching, to stop
strip mining, logging, drift net fishing, and other activities that
they deem dangerous to animals and ecosystems. Within this
environmental spectrum are many other groups, including the World
Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Earth Island Institute, Clean Water Action,
and other organizations that use various techniques to inform,
educate, and influence public opinion regarding environmental issues
and to lobby policy makers.
Iron-On Instructions
An ink jet printer and ink jet iron-on transfer paper are required.
Carefully follow the instructions included with the ink jet transfer paper.
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