Global warming & you: this Earth Day, the focus is on climate change. How is it affecting the U.S., and what can you do to help reverse it?

Thirty-seven years ago, concerned citizens in the United States held the first Earth Day. Schools organized events to help raise awareness about the dangers of pollution. Gradually, the observance spread across the planet. Since the first Earth Day, much progress has been made in cleaning up our skies, land, rivers, and oceans.

Today, our greatest concern is a problem that few people were even aware of in 1970: global warming. By now, millions of people have seen a film called An Inconvenient Truth. It chronicles former Vice President Al Gore's crusade to tell the world about global warming. The film's popularity-and its Academy Award for Best Documentary--show that concern over the issue is now widespread.

"Evidence Is on the Table"

On February 2, 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a new report on the causes and effects of global warming. The panel, created by the United Nations (UN), warns of melting glaciers, rising ocean levels, and the increasing severity of droughts and storms. Its report states, in the IPCC's strongest language yet, that human activity is responsible for climate change.

Achim Steiner is director of the program that oversees the IPCC. "February 2 will be remembered as the date when uncertainty was removed" about the link between people and global warming, he said. "The evidence is on the table."

Scientists disagree over how fast and how much global warming will affect the planet. Yet many of them point to changes that have already occurred. For Earth Day 2007, JS looks at some possible signs of those changes. Also, a Scholastic Kid Reporter shows us how some ordinary Americans are doing their part to help save the Earth. In addition, we look at ways in which you can make a difference.

Signs of Change

Ask the people of Vermont what has changed most about winter, and many will have the same answer: less snow. Over the last 30 years, Vermont winters have warmed up by 5.0[degrees]F to 6.5[degrees]F. With snowfalls declining by 30 inches in the same period, many ski areas have had to close.

"People used to say Vermont was 10 months of winter and 2 months of bad sledding," said Bill McKibben, a global-warming expert. "Now it's 2 months of bad sledding and 10 months of mud season. It's very strange and unsettling."

Skiing is not the only New England tradition affected. For more than 200 years, Burr Morse's family has been tapping sap from Vermont maple trees to make syrup. But as The New York Times reported last month, global warming seems to be changing "the maple's biological clock"--and threatening the Morse family business.

Maple trees require weeks of below-freezing temperatures to make sap. With winter arriving later each year, syrup producers aren't sure when to tap their trees. "We can't rely on tradition like we used to," Morse said. Last winter, he produced only 700 gallons of syrup, rather than his usual 1,000.

Tim Perkins, an expert on maple trees at the University of Vermont, warns of a bigger long-term problem. Climate change may cause maples to disappear from a too-warm Vermont. "One hundred to 200 years from now, there may be very few maples here," Perkins told the Times.

Morse is worried. "How many winters are we going to go with Decembers turning into short-sleeve weather before the maple trees say, 'I don't like it here any more'?" he asked.

Lost in the Heat

California's San Joaquin (wahKEEN) Valley is a marvel of human-engineered agriculture. Although much of this huge, flat area is semidesert, it is filled with farms. Fruit and vegetable fields and dairy and meat ranches seem to stretch on forever. A vast network of irrigation pipes keeps them all going by bringing water from rivers, artificial aquifers, and snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Some experts think that global warming is beginning to upset the balance of nature and farmer. Last year was the hottest on record in the U.S. (see JS Feb. 12). During the summer of 2006, temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley soared to above 100[degrees]F for 13 consecutive days. ABC News reported that thousands of cows dropped dead in the heat.

According to Liz Hudson of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, farmers in her county alone suffered more than $85 million in beef, dairy, and poultry losses. "I can't recall when we had as widespread damage resulting from heat," she told JS.

"We're seeing the early signs of climate warming," one California climatologist told ABC. "We're very worried about [it]." Another predicted that the snowpack in the Sierra Nevadas will diminish by as much as 90 percent by the end of the 21st century. That would be disastrous for the farmers.

Hudson is cautious about blaming global warming for the weather. "I think the jury's still out" on that, she said. Still, she admits that farmers are keeping a wary eye on the issue. It may or may not be significant that rainfall this year is only 55 percent of normal. "I don't know if we have any normal years anymore," she said.

BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION

Here are 5 things you can do to help save Earth:

1. CONSERVE ENERGY

Shut off those lights when you leave a room! Ditto your stereo, TV, computer, and other electronics. Buy only appliances with the Energy Star label. Here's something really simple: Buy compact fluorescent light bulbs. They use 75 percent less energy than regular light bulbs.

2. SAVE WATER

Tighten drippy faucets. A tap that leaks one drop of water per second wastes about 2,400 gallons a year! Don't use the toilet as a garbage can. (it takes up to 7 gallons of water to flush one.) Don't keep the water running from the tap as you brush your teeth.

3. REDUCE E-WASTE

Take your old TV, MP3 player, or stereo to a recycling center. If you're buying a new computer, see if the store will accept a trade-in. Donate your old cell phone to a charity that supplies phones to the poor.

4. SLASH TRASH

Forty percent of our landfills are paper! Instead of throwing out your paper cups, reuse them or use a washable cup. Take your own bags to the grocery store. [Plastic bags are not biodegradable.] Instead of bottled water, drink filtered tap water when you can. Refuse all Styrofoam!

5. BE A SQUEAKY WHEEL

Let the adults know what you think. Insist that they carpool and buy energy. efficient cars. Urge your local businesses to install bike racks--and ride a bike whenever you can.

Write About It

Write a letter to your Senator or Representative detailing wags that people in gout area can cut dram on pollution to the land, air, and water.