Online Universities Train Global Warming Warriors

In 2005, it was Hurricane Katrina. Last year, it was the string of record-breaking temperatures nationwide--2006 was the warmest year on record since 1895. The climate is heating up, and with it, efforts to combat global warming and other environmental ills. On the bright side, the wacky weather is also heating up the job market for environmental specialists.

The National Climactic Data Center confirmed recently what many have feared: global warming is a real phenomenon. 2006's long trend of high temperatures was "almost certainly" related to the continuing buildup of smokestack and tailpipe gases linked to global warming. "The long-term trend we're seeing cannot be explained without the influence of greenhouse gases," a NCDC official commented.

Global warming has finally come to the fore as an urgent public health concern, prompting lawmakers to put unprecedented resources toward hazardous waste clean-up, pollution prevention, and environmental research. Environmental scientists and hydrologists, engineers, and environmental managers are among those most in demand.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts "much faster than average" job growth for all environmental specialties. In response, a number of online universities and engineering schools are expanding their environmental science programs. Degrees available online include bachelor and master's programs in:

• Sustainable Development
• Environmental Engineering
• Environmental Policy
• Environmental Education and Communication
• Pollution Management
• Hydrology

Graduates of accredited online universities and engineering schools will enter one of the strongest job markets in some time. Opportunities abound in both the public and private sector, in areas such as public health, waste disposal, recycling, pollution control and remediation, and government prosecution of corporate polluters. Whichever niche you choose, you'll be doing your part to protect our most precious natural resource: the air we breathe.