It is the Child that sees the primordial Secret in Nature and it is the child in ourselves that we return to. The child within us is simple and daring enough to live the Secret. Chuang TzuIf education is to be a major part of the solution to climate change, habitat loss, degradation of cultural heritage, threats to biodiversity and ecological stability then the dominant paradigm in education must change from a transmissive to a transformative mode. Closely coupled and interwoven through this will be the need for a hands-on experiential element that is inspirational, interactive and socially developmental. Teachers, lecturers and interpretation professionals have not lost any of their talent as innovators or communicatorsbut in some countries they have an increasingly difficult culture of fear and litigation to work within. How do we educate for a different world where sustainability becomes a priority for the exponentially growing human population and the diminishing biodiversity of other species? Can we ensure an adequate specialist training within a holistic framework which balances science and the arts? There are examples of excellent educational programmes and practices from many countries which deserve a higher profile; the challenge is to encourage these, research them effectively and share good practice. This paper encourages an increase in ecological and sustainability literacy, calls for a more holistic and interdisciplinary approach, and encourages practitioners to reclaim the education initiative.
The subauroral region, located equatorward from typical auroral displays, has been extensively studied by investigating processes like subauroral polarization streams (SAPS), subauroral ion drifts (SAIDs), and stable auroral red (SAR) arcs. Recently a new optical phenomenon known as strong thermal emission velocity enhancement (STEVE) has brought renewed interest in this region (Gallardo-Lacourt, Liang, et al.,2018;MacDonald et al., 2018). A handful of papers have reported characteristics of STEVEs that seem to match those observed during SAIDs (Archer, Nishimura et al., 2019). Spectrograph measurements show that the spectrum of STEVE contains two major contributing components: an overall enhancement of a continuous spectrum between 400 and 730 nm, with a peak at 630.0 nm (Gillies et al., 2019). Nevertheless there are still many issues that need to be understood. The initial observations made the assumption that STEVE was occurring at 130 km altitude, however a study using Citizen Scientist's photographs of a STEVE showed that it spanned altitudes from 130 to 270 km . Altitudes of 150 and 250 km were also found using all-sky imagers (Liang et al., 2019).Enhanced electron temperature and reduced ion density are typical signatures accompanying the observation of SAR arcs and STEVEs, as well as SAPS and SAIDs. These similarities make difficult to distinguish the optical signatures observed. In general, STEVEs are short lived, latitudinally thin, polychromatic (typically purple/mauve and white), and associated with very large westward flows (more than few km/s) (Archer, Gallardo-Lacourt et al., 2019), while SAR arcs are long lived, wide in latitude, monochromatic (630.0 nm),
This paper reviews key properties and major unsolved problems about Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE) and the picket fence. We first introduce the basic characteristics of STEVE and historical observations of STEVE-like emissions, particularly the case on 11 September 1891. Then, we discuss major open questions about STEVE: 1) Why does STEVE preferentially occur in equinoxes? 2) How do the solar wind and storm/substorm conditions control STEVE? 3) Why is STEVE rare, despite that STEVE does not seem to require extreme driving conditions? 4) What are the multi-scale structures of STEVE? 5) What mechanisms determine the properties of the picket fence? 6) What are the chemistry and emission mechanisms of STEVE? 7) What are the impacts of STEVE on the ionosphere−thermosphere system? Also, 8) what is the relation between STEVE, stable auroral red (SAR) arcs, and the subauroral proton aurora? These issues largely concern how STEVE is created as a unique mode of response of the subauroral magnetosphere−ionosphere−thermosphere coupling system. STEVE, SAR arcs, and proton auroras, the three major types of subauroral emissions, require energetic particle injections to the pre-midnight inner magnetosphere and interaction with cold plasma. However, it is not understood why they occur at different times and why they can co-exist and transition from one to another. Strong electron injections into the pre-midnight sector are suggested to be important for driving intense subauroral ion drifts (SAID). A system-level understanding of how the magnetosphere creates distinct injection features, drives subauroral flows, and disturbs the thermosphere to create optical emissions is required to address the key questions about STEVE. The ionosphere−thermosphere modeling that considers the extreme velocity and heating should be conducted to answer what chemical and dynamical processes occur and how much the STEVE luminosity can be explained. Citizen scientist photographs and scientific instruments reveal the evolution of fine-scale structures of STEVE and their connection to the picket fence. Photographs also show the undulation of STEVE and the localized picket fence. High-resolution observations are required to resolve fine-scale structures of STEVE and the picket fence, and such observations are important to understand underlying processes in the ionosphere and thermosphere.
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