blog action day 2009: climate change

social conscience, social consciousness, and sports are not often associated with one another. for whatever reason (and i admit, there are many), people just don't generally associate athletes and athleticism with concerns for the larger world.

which i think is unfortunate, and one that i think should be dispelled.

as part of this, i am writing this post. some of you may have noticed the presence of the following badge on this blog:

this is the badge for Blog Action Day, an international effort to coordinate blogs from around the world on behalf of various causes, with blogs being asked to raise awareness by posting entries on October 15 of every year on specific themes. for 2009, the theme is climate change, with the goal of helping educate internet users on the issues of climate change. you can learn more at their website (http://www.blogactionday.org/), and also check out their video on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CnIJ19EVMo

i've been remiss about Blog Action Day. i participated in it in 2007 (reference: Blog Action Day 2007), but missed it in 2008 (no excuses, i just let it slip, and it was entirely my own fault).

this year's theme is close to my heart. the bulk of my research and classes relate to international environmental and human rights issues. i deal with climate change--and its political and legal ramifications--quite extensively.

i'm not going to be so conceited as to bore you with details of what i've found in my work, but i will support the cause by providing everyone with information about climate change that i think they can stand to learn, particularly in terms of athletics.

believe it or not, there's been a fair amount of stuff written about the connection between sports and climate change, with articles and reports in the mainstream media, private sources, and even governments. i've selected an assortment of the more comprehensive ones that discuss how sports contributes to climate change and climate change impacts sports:

• http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/03/06/eco0312/
• http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2006-05-30-sports-globalwarming_x.htm
• http://www.davidsuzuki.org/latestnews/dsfnews03300901.asp
• http://www.celsias.com/article/climate-change-and-the-future-of-sport/
• http://www.dsr.wa.gov.au/dsrwr/_assets/main/lib50010/climate%20change%20-%20online.pdf
  

there's also been efforts by athletes to support climate change as a cause, and i've found some pretty notable examples of Olympic and professional athletes calling for more awareness of climate change:

• http://www.grist.org/article/Not-going-carbon-neutral-eh
• http://www.greenopia.com/USA/news/15175/3-3-2009/Sustainable-Sports-Stars:-Athletes-That-Kick,-Dunk-and-Race-for-the-Planet
• http://www.sustainabilitysymbol.com/olympic-athletes-stop-global-warming-and-promote-green-olympics/
• http://thegreenpages.ca/portal/ca/2009/02/athletes_call_for_carbon_neutr.html
• http://www.middlebury.edu/about/pubaff/news_releases/2009/pubaff_633735915397665350.htm
• http://www.ethiotube.net/video/5969/ETV-News--Ethiopian-Athletes-working-to-educate-about-climate-change
• http://www.350.org/
• http://beingabetterathlete.blogspot.com/
  

and of course, if you want to familiarize yourself with the current efforts to deal with climate change, i offer links that i use on a regular basis:

• the December 2009 climate change conference in Copenhagen (meant to address what happens after the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2010): http://en.cop15.dk/
• United Nations Environmental Programme: http://www.unep.org/climatechange/
• United Nations: http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/climatechange/gateway
• International Panel on Climate Change: http://www.ipcc.ch/
• World Bank: http://beta.worldbank.org/climatechange/
• Food and Agriculture Organization: http://www.fao.org/climatechange/en/
• World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/globalchange/climate/en/
• International Energy Agency: http://www.iea.org/Textbase/subjectqueries/keyresult.asp?KEYWORD_ID=4106
• World Wildlife Fund: http://www.worldwildlife.org/climate/
  
• Royal Society: http://royalsociety.org/landing.asp?id=1278
• Pew Center: http://www.pewclimate.org/
• Nature magazine: http://www.nature.com/climate/index.html
  

hope that helps. if you have any questions, feel free to write. otherwise, contribute to the cause!