WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 — A Supreme Court argument Wednesday on the Bush administration’s refusal to regulate carbon dioxide in automobile emissions offered three intertwined plot lines to the audience that had come to watch the court’s first encounter with the issue of global climate change.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/
washington/30scotus.html?ex=1322542800
&en=e044929ec48306b8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Wed. Dec. 6, 2006, 4:30 pm
Island Plan, VTA Administration Building

Wed. Dec. 6, 2006, 9 am and noon
94 North Road in Chilmark
Visit anytime for casual and informal seasonal activities, animal visits and outdoor fun, supported by donation. For details, call 508-645-3304.

Fri. Dec. 8, 2006, 10 am
Comm. Solar Greenhouse, 114 New York Ave., Oak Bluffs
Dr. Barbara Stelle on rejuvenating worm bin. Free. 508-693-2019; 3423.

Fri. Dec. 8, 2006, 3-7 pm
Cronig's Market, State Rd., Vineyard Haven.
Vineyard Energy Project. Buy up to 15 light bulbs, $1 each. 508-693-3002.

In February a real interactive educational expedition will begin. Abby Fenton originally from Jamaica Plain, Ma and now an adventurer and expert musher will be part of a team of four to brave the -60 degree temperatures of Baffin Island in Artic Canada to tell the story of Global Warming and its impact on the Inuit communities. The expedition is part of the 'Global Warming 101' initiative - an arm of the Will Steger Foundation. The team will leave Feb 1st for 4 months, and travel by dogsled to 5 remote Inuit Villages in Baffin Island. They will be out for 3 weeks at a time, traveling 1,400 miles. Daily updates from Will Steger and his team members will send video footage, journal entries, and data to the website documenting the impact of global warming on the Arctic environment and the Inuit Communities that live there. Information will feed the Foundation’s six lesson plans and bring global warming to life in the classroom.

www.GlobalWarming101.com

Volunteer Monitoring Grants - EOEA is seeking applications for Volunteer Monitoring Grants to fund environmental monitoring and assessment efforts in wetlands and water bodies. Grants may be used by nonprofit monitoring groups to monitor water quality and/or water quantity, track changes in populations of introduced species, and assess impacts to wetlands. This grant as well as others are now available. Earliest deadline Dec 12.

To apply go to www.mass.gov/czm, (617) 626-1200

The Bush administration is right to push aquaculture, but it needs to push the right kind of aquaculture.

IN THE NEXT few months, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will finalize a 10-year plan for encouraging American aquaculture, or fish farming. The draft plan expands on a bill the administration unveiled last year to jump-start fish farming offshore. How this initiative takes place will have big economic and environmental implications. Done right, aquaculture can be part of the solution for oceans and fisheries under great stress. Done badly, it could make matters a lot worse.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
content/article/2006/11/22/AR2006112201796.html

Vicious cycle of droughts and fires is depleting rain forest; scientists warn of serious consequences for global climate

TANGURO RANCH, Brazil -- On an Amazon plantation the size of Cape Cod, a Massachusetts forest ecologist and his team are setting the rain forest on fire.

After measuring the humidity of the air and the density of the forest canopy, workers pour kerosene in neat trails and torch the underbrush. Researchers, their brows dripping with sweat, measure the height and width of the flames and later determine how far into the forest the fire traveled.

http://www.boston.com/news/
globe/health_science/articles/
2006/11/27/amazon_burning/

How much excess carbon dioxide can the ocean hold and how will it affect marine life?

It is 4:30 a.m., far from land. A group of scientists clad in bright yellow foul-weather gear gathers in the open bay of a research ship. They wait in the chill air while the ship's crew brings their instrument back on board after a 6-mile roundtrip to the ocean floor.

http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/
viewArticle.do?id=17726&sectionid=1000

Over the course of the past year, the Vineyard Conservation Society polled 353 Vineyarders (20% of them seasonal) about their lawn and garden habits, as part of the Society's new Vineyard Lawns Initiative. The goal of the Initiative is to nurture environmentally sound practices in lawn and garden care, based on an understanding of how behavior in this area impacts water quality.

Please go to the Water section for the rest of the survey.