Air Pollution: Tailpipe controls on buses don't clear the air inside bus cabins

As iconic yellow buses transport children to and from school, their diesel engines deliver big doses of air pollutants. In response, school districts have started retrofitting their buses to cut tailpipe emissions. But a new study shows that while these measures may help clean outdoor air, they have virtually no impact on the air inside bus cabins.

Living in stressful homes increases the effects of outside air pollution in children, resulting in greater pollution-related lung damage, U.S. researchers say.

Lead researcher Talat Islam of the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, says psychosocial stress appears to enhance the lung-damaging effects of traffic-related pollution in children.

 Children’s Environmental Health Rights Centre in Madurai, Tamilnadu, India
{A capacity building, training, advocacy and resource Centre for children and young people}

Introduction: Protection of environment has posed not only a major challenge but also a social and moral responsibility in the present society. In recent times, the subject of environment has interested the general public and caught the attention and enthusiasm of children in particular. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development affirms that children are an indispensable component in achieving sustainable development. In addition, one chapter in Agenda 21 is solely devoted to children and youth in sustainable development and portrays the special role that they can play in this process, while other chapters recognize the conditions of extreme poverty in which children live and the perpetual state of hunger the many suffer as a consequence of environment degradation. Environmental threats to child health can broadly be divided into “traditional” hazards, stemming largely from a lack of development, and “modern” hazards, arising essentially from unsustainable patterns of development. The quality of the environment and the care a child receives from parents and family members exerts a powerful influence on his or her physical and mental development processes.

Digging up and pulling out invasive weeds or checking the quality of water in a creek may not be the way many students plan to spend a day off from school, but nine First Creek students in the Science Club were participating in Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day of Service on Jan. 18.

It was also the kick-off of the Youth Services America’s (YSA) STEMester of Service initiative through which the Science Club students are learning about storm water testing and removal of invasive weeds through collaboration with the University of Washington Tacoma and the City of Tacoma.

On Saturday, April 10, 100 people will organize community-based, environmentally-focused, youth-led service projects for Global Youth Service Day 2010 and beyond.

read more here http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/03/07/join-the-movement/

Dirt! The Movie is traveling across the U.S. with free screenings. And it's promoting GYSD as it goes.

read more here http://dirtthemovie.org

By Ouisa D. Davis

We say that the future is in the hands of our youth; that is even more the case in the current age of technology and human advancement. Some of the most pressing problems of our world and our community can be identified and addressed with the eyes of the young; eyes that are clear and bright and optimistic.

Global Youth Service Day, originally launched and known as National Youth Service Day in the United States, is a coordinated annual event which gathers young people around the world in conducting community service, service learning, and youth voice activities that benefit their communities, their countries, and the world. Activities are organized in more than 100 countries each April to help mark the celebrations, and engage millions, making it the largest annual celebration of young volunteers.

In 2009, the event will be April 24-26. In 2010, it will be April 23-25. It is coordinated by Youth Service America and the Global Youth Action Network, together with a coalition of organizations, and with sponsorship from Disney and the Inter-American Development Bank. More than 2,000 youth organizations around the world participate each year. A variety of organizations with national reach across the United States engage in National Youth Service Day activities, including the United States Conference of Mayors, Woodmen of the World, and Habitat for Humanity. A variety of organizations have been accredited with administering the day, including Global Youth Action Network, Youth Service America, and Points of Light Foundation.

There was a horrifying report in The Denver Post on Aug 21 that told of 1,300 children being poisoned by pollution from a manganese-processing plant.

This occurred just days after emissions from a lead smelter in another province sickened hundreds. The people are protesting but this tiny article on page 19A one paragraph long is the canary in the coal mine in regards to the terrible toll the Chinese people are paying in the name of economic development.

Are your children asking you about global climate change and wondering what they can do to help the polar bears?  Are they feeling sad and scared?  How can you comfort them, answer their questions and assure them that their world is not spinning out of control?

The key is empowerment and teaching kids how to be engaged citizens. Parents can explain global warming, encourage schools to teach the basics of science and help children participate in nature study.  For example, scientists have correlated changes in when plants bloom, where plants and animals are found, and the timing of migrations with warming temperatures.  Kids taking part in outdoor activities like Project Budburst and Audubon bird counts can take temperature readings and see these changes for themselves --and they can provide data for scientists to document the effects of global warming.