There’s a lot of talk these days of “thinking outside the box.” Whether for kids in the classroom or companies in the marketplace, it’s an ability to be cultivated. People who think outside the box are risk takers, good problem solvers, and work efficiently and creatively with others. Spending time outdoors as a child imparts many of those skills. According to Cal Tech’s Jet Propulsion Lab, interviews of all potential candidates include questions about their play experiences as children because they’ve found a direct correlation between hands-on play and superior problem-solving skills. But how do you take risks and work creatively; how are you a resilient, strong problem-solver when you’ve, literally, grown up inside the box?

Putting the Fun, Not Fearful, Foot Forward into the Outdoors

A child born in the last two decades has spent most of his youth indoors, surrounded by the roof, four walls, and floor of his home. Protecting children’s safety is of course paramount. But when childhood is a sanitized, climate-controlled environment it does our children no favors. They become like fairytale characters, locked in high towers for their own protection, conditioned to fear the very things a child’s instinct draws them to, from digging in dirt and mud to feeling the sun on their face.

“We have shifted our culture from one that is engaged in a healthy, interactive, and imaginative way to one that is inwardly facing, sedentary and expecting things to be fed to us,”

says Dr. Michael Rich, Director of the Center of Media and Child Health, Children’s Hospital Boston,leading kids to feel unmotivated and even afraid of playing outdoors. In a country where childhood obesity rates have more than doubled in the last twenty years, where we are the largest consumer of ADHD medications in the world, and where the use of antidepressants in pediatric patients has risen sharply, we cannot afford to succumb to fear when kids’ health and happiness depends on them growing outside the box.

The outdoors is a wonderful teacher, offering kids so many important, good lessons, such as how to respect and care for nature, how to be resilient in the face of challenge and imperfection, and how to use your imagination to make your own fun.

Here are some top fears kids (and grownups) have about playing outside and some information to combat them:

Coming Clean! (Fear of Dirt):

Many happy, healthy, well-adjusted adults in American society grew up with dirt under their fingernails—it’s an occupational hazard of making mud pies. But kids today have been bathed in hand sanitizer since birth and may not see getting messy as a good thing. It is! Studies have shown that plating in the dirt isn’t just fun, it can boost overall happiness and health, due to naturally occurring bacteria in soil that help fortify children’s immune systems and stimulate the production of serotonin, improving mood.

So go ahead, let your kids get dirty. And remember: “Most of the germs lurking about our environment and that live on our bodies are not only harmless; they’ve been with us for millennia,” says “Martin Blaser, MD, professor of Internal Medicine at New York University.

Don’t Bug Me! (Fear of Insects)

For kids who are afraid of bugs, playing outside can give them the creepy-crawlies. But, insects are a fun way to learn about the natural world, according to April Gower, executive vice president of the Entomological Foundation.

“Children love to observe ants crawling in an ant farm, or to see a praying mantis move its head. For younger children, insects are still at the eye level.”

So how do you help your insect-phobe relax and enjoy time outside? Experts say the best way is to model calm behavior yourself so as not to reinforce the fear. Education can also help: go to www.entfdn.org and explore the educational resources section for kids’ activities and projects.

Running Hot and Cold! (Fear of Inclement Weather)

While you’re not going to let your kids play outside during a blizzard or hurricane, many days of the year, it’s perfectly fine to play outside even when it’s technically too hot, too cold, or too rainy. Taking kids out in different weather builds their mental and physical flexibility and resilience. Common sense measures are the word of the day, so kids don’t miss out on the fun. On very hot days, seek shade, slather kids in sunscreen and offer water and popsicles to stay hydrated. In very cold weather, bundle up, coat lips and cheeks with petroleum jelly and keep hot chocolate on hand. And in the rain, wear your boots, bring an umbrella… and don’t forget to sing in the rain!

Alyson Weinberg is a Washington DC-based writer specializing in issues concerning children and families. She is an award-winning speech writer, feature writer and communications strategist and the former editor of Spirit, the magazine of the Special Olympics movement. Alyson’s articles and editorials have appeared in national print media, textbooks, and on the web. She and her husband Josh live with their two daughters, Josie and Raina, in Potomac, MD.

The summer heat also brings frequent storms to Tennessee. Hazel Erikson captured this lightning burst above Norris Lake.

This Photo of the Day was donated by a participant in the annual National Wildlife Photo Contest. See more photos or sign up for the 42nd Annual National Wildlife Photo Contest.

Camping in a pool of light on a dark night creates a close and cozy feel. Photo donated by National Wildlife Photo Contest participant Derek Gulden.

But to be forewarned is to be forearmed, if by armed you mean having a rain suit at hand during a weekend that may feature a cloud burst. Fortunately, for those who travel beyond reach of weather reports, nature provides a lot of clues about oncoming storms and sunshine .

Even close to home, these clues can be helpful. Are you taking part in NWF’s 8th annual Great American Backyard Campout on June 23? Then you can use these 12 tidbits that day to test your kids’ weather-reading ability, making a game out of their skill while at the same time bringing them closer to nature:

1. Red sky: If the sky is red at night, the next day will likely be clear; if red in the morning, expect rain by the end of the day; remember, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in morning, sailor take warning.”
2. Gray morning: A gray dawn with foggy valleys indicates—surprise!—a clear day ahead.
3. Listen to frogs: Several hours before a storm hits, frogs increase their calling, apparently because the higher pre-storm humidity keeps their skin moist, allowing them to stay out of water longer.
4. Summer halos: a hazy ring around the sun or moon in summer is a reliable sign that the weather pattern is in for a change, usually bringing rain.
5. Dewy dawn: heavy morning or late-evening dew (or frost in cold months) may indicate 12 hours of continued good weather.
6. Hair: the hair on your head will contract when damp and relax when dry, so straighter hair means dry weather, wavier or curlier means wet.
7. Animals: cattle gather in lower elevations and away from exposed hills when the weather is about to change for the worse; in mountainous areas, deer, wild sheep and elk move from mountainsides to sheltered valleys as storms approach and go back up when the blow is over.
8. Wind direction: winds from the south tend to bring rain (old adage: “Wind from the south brings rain in its mouth”), while winds from the north are associated with clear weather. On a similar note, if the wind has been blowing for the past few hours, rushing clouds along, and then suddenly dies, you are in for a major storm.
9. Your nose: if you live on the Great Plains you may smell approaching rain—the lower pressure and higher humidity that come with rain cause the ground to emit a rich, sweet odor similar to that of fresh-mown hay.
10. Campfire smoke: if smoke hangs low to the ground and drifts off into surrounding tree branches, rain is possible; if the smoke rises in a straight, vertical column, anticipate fair weather.
11. Crickets: If you count the number of times a cricket chirps in 14 seconds, then add 40, you can get a close estimate of the air temperature in Fahrenheit; for example, 25 chirps in 14 seconds plus 40 equals 65 degrees F (note: air temperature on the ground where  crickets hang out may be several degrees cooler than the air around your head).
12. Coffee: stir strongly brewed coffee (no instant) in a mug with vertical sides to make bubbles form—if the bubbles scatter and then gather in the center, expect fair weather; if they cling to the sides of the cup, rain is possible.

Sign Up for the Great American Backyard Campout

On June 23rd , NWF will hold its 8th annual Great American Backyard Campout, in which families across the nation—from beginners to seasoned outdoor enthusiasts—pitch tents and spend the night outdoors. Last year, about 175,000 people joined in, more than 60 percent of them setting up camp in a backyard.

The campout is a lot of fun for kids, but it’s also more than that. In recent years, the experience of childhood has moved indoors—today, 25 percent of kids play outside daily, as opposed to 75 percent a generation ago—taking a toll on children. By participating in the Great American Backyard Campout, your children will explore the outdoors and put nature back into childhood. This activity can yield significant results: A study in the 1990s found that people who grew up to be conservationists almost invariably had someone in their lives who introduced them to nature as a child.

The Great American Backyard Campout: Sign up.

This blog was adapted from Basic Illustrated Weather Forecasting by Michael Hodgson. Copyright © 2008 by Michael Hodgson. Used by permission of FalconGuides, a division of Globe Pequot Press.

Photos for this blog were donated by competitors in the annual National Wildlife Photo Contest. See more photos or sign up for the 42nd annual National Wildlife Photo Contest. In addition to cash awards, winning photos appear in National Wildlife magazine and on the NWF website.

Cherry blossoms in the Washington, DC area captured on February 4, 2012 (Kelly Senser)

Across the continental United States, people are noticing that it’s been unseasonably warm this winter. My colleague Tony Iallonardo asked National Wildlife Federation staff last week if anyone had noticed anything unusual.  Responses came pouring in!

• Michigan: Jeff Alexander in Grand Haven, MI reports that for the first time in 20 years there are no ice floes on the east coast of Lake Michigan. Normally the ice is 10 feet tall and ¼ mile out into the lake! And, Brenda Archambo shared that numerous outdoor winter festivals have been cancelled because of poor ice and snow conditions.
• Western Massachusetts: Jenny Kordick reached out to Mark Jester, President of the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen in Pittsfield MA. He reports that sportsmen are having more problems with ticks—on themselves and their dogs—even in winter. This year, several ice fishing derbies in Western MA have been postponed or outright cancelled, owing to the lack of ice. And, more geese and other waterfowl are spending the winter on lakes and ponds further north, becoming such a nuisance that golf courses and lake and pond associations are now applying for permits to destroy these new residents.
• New York City: Eliav Bitan in New York City reports that trees are sending out green leaves already in Central Park. Emily Maxwell mentioned that the annual Winter Jam was canceled this year because it was too warm to make snow.
• Washington, DC: Here in the DC area, several NWF staff reported that some of the famous Cherry Trees are already starting to bud out, confounding forecasts for the peak bloom, which usually would be at the end of March or early April. Meanwhile, Miles Grant says he’ll remember this winter most for the “seemingly endless bug season.” He said the little critters were crawling through is window or patio door well into December, and now are already returning!
• Atlanta, GA: Glenn Dowling reports that his first daffodil of the year bloomed on the first day of the year. That’s a whole lot sooner than their early March bloom in 2006 and even their early February bloom last year. And, Jaclyn McDougal bemoaned that the mosquitoes are out in “full force”.
• Boulder, CO: Brian Pritchett said he was “eaten alive” by mosquitoes last weekend, while David Ellenberger grumbled about how miserable the ski season in Colorado has been so far this year. Let’s hope that the snow they received last week helps salvage the rest of the season!
• San Francisco Bay area: Kassie Rohrbach shares that everyone out there is talking about the drought and how the snowpack in the Sierras is at 19% of normal for this time of year. What’s worse, the lack of rain has meant more smog and much reduced visibility, even on sunny days.

Another Oddball Winter for the Record Books

According to NOAA, weather stations across the country broke or tied 3,110 daily high temperature records in January, compared to a measly 164 daily low temperature records.  This lopsided ratio is something that climate scientists have been tracking as a clear sign of global warming. In the first half of the 20^th century, record highs and lows were set in about equal numbers. But, in the 2000’s, record highs outpaced record lows by a factor of 2 to 1. Climate projections for mid-century indicate that the ratio could increase to 20-to-1 if carbon pollution continues to increase.

But, global warming is having a seemingly peculiar—and sometimes confusing!—effect on winter weather. Across the Midwest and Eastern US, this year has brought unseasonably warm weather, while the last two winters are remembered for their extreme snowfall events. Some of the variation reflects normal year-to-year variability, largely due to large-scale climate oscillations like El Nino/La Nina and the Arctic Oscillation. But these weather conditions also are affected by the shifting climate baseline.  Although it may seem somewhat counterintuitive at first glance, global warming is contributing to heavier snowfall events.  As the atmosphere warms, it can hold more moisture, leading to heavier precipitation events.  If it’s cold enough, that precipitation will be snow, and lots of it!  Of course, if we don’t get a handle on carbon pollution, we’ll have fewer and fewer days that are cold enough to snow and more winters like the current one.

For more background on whacky winter weather, check out the NWF report Odd-Ball Winter Weather: Global Warming’s Wake-Up Call for the Northern United States.

What Have You Noticed?

Have you seen something that was out of ordinary?  We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

The NPP carries five instruments set to collect daily data on atmospheric and sea-surface temperatures, humidity soundings, land and ocean biological productivity, and cloud and aerosol properties, along with Earth radiation budget data.

Credit: Ball Aerospace, 2011.

NASA scientists attest that the NPP collects critical climate data to help us unravel some of the mysteries of climate change.

NPP can also see and collect data on other environmental factors such as fires, vegetation, ice patterns, oil spills and sees deeper into storms such as hurricanes.

What’s also unique about the satellite is that it can see all the way to the ground or ocean, regardless of cloud cover, measuring air and surface temperatures through a “straw” of accuracy.

“A significant amount of data that comes up through a 1.1-degree soda straw from the ground,” said Stephen Opel, civil space program manager at Northrop Grumman.

Here is a graphic image of  NPP:

Courtesy of NASA

First image from NPP. Courtesy of NASA, 2011.

Weather information will help provide advance warnings for severe weather such as the deadly tornadoes, hurricanes, heat waves, floods, snowfall and wildfires that the National Weather Service reports have killed 852 Americans, injured more than 6,500, and led to a record $12 billion weather disasters in the USA in 2011.

Over the longer-term, climate data will provide more information to make decisions on how we mitigate (reduce greenhouse gases) and adapt (prepare for impacts) to climate change. It will help cover some data gaps that can sometimes hinder us from taking action.

NASA anticipates all of the products on board will be fully operational within the next year. Follow updates on the NPP’s twitter feed.

Bill Morrow\Flickr

Since 1870 the National Weather Service, a branch of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), helps protect our lives and property from a tornado or other severe weather event. Even if you get weather information from your local TV meteorologist he or she cannot properly issue a weather warning without the determination of National Weather Service’s highly-trained around-the-clock scientists.

As severe storms this week brought harm to many in the south and eastern part of the United States, it is increasingly clear how important early detection and warning is to our safety.

NOAA also recognizes the need to detect and plan for impacts from climate change such as sea level rise and severe drought.

Where could we turn to get the climate change information needed to protect ourselves and wildlife?

To make climate change information accessible and useful for the public NOAA is creating the structure necessary for a National Climate Service.

Travis\Flickr

The Climate Service will assist answers to questions such as: How much might areas of the northern Great Lakes warm making moose more susceptible to disease? Or, what communities can expect extreme flooding and at what time of year?

There is no service currently in place to provide such information.

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco says:

Advances in science make it possible for us to provide useful information about the months-to-years time-frame – something that has potential to be of immense utility to businesses, communities, natural resources and military operations.

Last week Congress did a disservice to national protection and planning efforts by blocking a measure to create this National Climate Service.

House members on both sides of the aisle defeated the measure. It is unknown what their true motivation is but it seems to be another attempt to squash climate change science.

Imagine what kind of trouble we would be in if the National Weather Service wasn’t available to translate weather science into warnings and forecasts for the public. The benefits of a National Climate Service are innumerable.

What does the future hold for a National Climate Service?

The issue of establishing a National Climate Service is being revisited in the fight over the FY 2012 budget. They will have to move very quickly as there is only 5 ½ months before the start of FY 2012.

We need your help to ensure this important service is implemented to protect people and wildlife.

Learn about the National Climate Service and visit its prototype website. Call your House Representative today and tell them not to deny information to protect people and wildlife from climate change by supporting a National Climate Service.

Learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s efforts to protect wildlife from climate change impacts.

Via Flickr's Mark Abel

Most Americans aren’t friends with a single scientist … yet they let one into their living room every night.

According to a 2005 survey, only 18% of Americans say they know a scientist personally. But about half of the people who deliver forecasts on your local television news are trained scientists.

Meteorologists have a unique opportunity to educate Americans about the threats the climate crisis poses to people & wildlife. That’s why Dr. Amanda Staudt, climate scientist with the National Wildlife Federation, is spending the week in Seattle at the 91st annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society.

What’s the difference between climate & weather? What role does the AMS have to play in educating Americans about the latest climate science? Watch my conversation with Dr. Staudt:

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’ll be bringing you updates from the AMS annual meeting all week long. In the meantime, learn more about the connection between the climate crisis and stronger hurricanes, heat waves & wildfires at NWF.org/ExtremeWeather.

Study after study speaks in a loud, clear voice – our climate is warming, man-made pollution is to blame, and we need to move quickly to break our fossil fuel addiction to have any chance at stabilizing the forecast. Just this week, the World Meteorological Organization confirmed 2010 tied for the hottest year on record. Scientific debate centers not on whether our climate is in crisis, but by how much and how rapidly our planet is heating up, and exactly what the impacts of that will be.

One area of climate science that’s coming into clearer focus is global warming’s impact on extreme weather. The National Wildlife Federation’s Dr. Amanda Staudt works to tell Americans exactly what that means for our local weather patterns, with consequences including stronger storms, deeper droughts & more intense wildfires.

ABC News recently did a great job of putting recent extreme weather into perspective – not setting up false controversy, but simply presenting the facts:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And it’s not just that we’re seeing changes now. “The prospects are that these kinds of things will only get bigger and worse in the future,” says Dr. Kevin Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Read an interview with Dr. Trenberth conducted by Joe Romm of ClimateProgress.org.

Unfortunately, for every straightforward report like ABC’s, there’s another that trips over itself to soften science. From CNN.com:

It stands to reason that a warmer climate would lead to warmer ocean temperatures, thus enhancing the rainfall brought about by El Nino/La Nina even further.

Some studies have shown this relationship, but like other climate change studies, the results are based on a limited and somewhat unreliable data record.

I’m by no means questioning this particular meteorologist’s personal commitment to science. But this is why the public doesn’t get that the climate crisis is an urgent problem in need of decisive action. He takes some uncertainty in a narrow area – how global warming is impacting El Nino & La Nina in the South Pacific Ocean – and suddenly & without explanation applies it to the entire scientific concept of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

Have you seen examples of really good (or not so good) climate science reporting? Share them with us in comments below.

Could the sweltering summer of 2010 be considered mild compared to the typical summers of the future? It depends on whether America & nations around the world act now to curb our global warming pollution.

That’s the conclusion of a new National Wildlife Federation report, Extreme Heat in Summer 2010: A Window on the Future:

In 2010, New Jersey, Delaware & North Carolina had their hottest June on record, while Rhode Island & Delaware had their hottest July. Sixteen other states had Junes or Julys that ranked in the top-five hottest. That means upward of 70 million Americans experienced extreme heat these two months. Hundreds of daily temperature records were broken across the country.

Not surprisingly, this hot spell has brought many days where the thermometer topped 90°F. Our analysis of large cities in the eastern United States shows that most locations have had about twice as many days with temperatures exceeding 90°F than they typically would by the end of July. For example, Washington, DC , had 39 days
with temperatures in the 90s by July 31, 2010, compared to 18 days for the same period in an average year. If conditions continue to stay warm, or even if we return to more average conditions in August, Washington and several other cities are on track to meet or break records for the total number of days exceeding 90°F in a single year. Cities in the south-central United States are also running hot: many have had about 50 percent more days over 90°F than average.

While the House passed the American Clean Energy & Security Act, obstructionists in the Senate have blocked action on clean energy & climate legislation. What could happen if the deny & delay crowd continues to block pollution limits?

Summers like the current one, or even worse, will become the norm by 2050 if global warming pollution continues to increase unabated. Alternatively, taking steps to reduce emissions can help avoid some of this increase in extremely hot days. For example:

• Washington, DC, is projected to have about 55 days over 90°F by midcentury under a lower-emissions scenario and about 100 such days if emissions are higher. For comparison, the city will likely have about 50 days above 90°F in 2010 if August and September have an average number of very hot days.
• Philadelphia, PA, is projected to have about 40 days over 90°F by midcentury under a lower-emissions scenario and about 60 such days if emissions are higher. Through the end of July, the city had 25 days exceeding 90°F in 2010 and is on track to have about 30 or more such days for the year.
• St. Louis, MO, is projected to have about 60 days over 90°F by midcentury under a lower-emissions scenario and about 80 such days if emissions are higher. This year, the city is on track to have 45 extremely hot days, about 10 more than average.

Read the full report (PDF), then take action. Tell your senators we need comprehensive climate & energy answers now.

Park picture via Flickr’s vasofoto.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

Longer, more intense heat waves are exactly what climate scientists have been warning as a consequence of our warming world. The National Wildlife Federation issued a report last summer on the connection between Global Warming & Heat Waves. Here’s a short video with NWF’s Dr. Amanda Staudt detailing its conclusions:

Click here to view the embedded video.