FARMINGTON - A nationwide teach-in on global warming called Focus the Nation will take place Wednesday and Thursday.

The University of Maine at Farmington will join more than 1,000 other universities, colleges and K-12 schools in a national discussion on climate change and possible clean energy solutions.

Events here, free and open to the public, are planned to focus on learning more about global warming solutions. A list of participating schools, churches and civic organizations and some of their events may be found under Teach-In at www.focusthenation.org, said Andrea Freed, UMF assistant professor of science education.

A live Web cast, "The 2% Solution," will be held at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Lincoln Auditorium at UMF Roberts Learning Center. The Web cast features Stanford University climate scientist Stephen Schneider and other environmental leaders, she said. Participants here as well as national audiences can use cell phones to call in and interact with the panel. They will also vote on the top five national priorities for global warming action.

The broadcast is based on the proposal to help control global warming by having developed countries cut carbon emissions 2 percent a year for the next 40 years.

Several activities are planned for Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Education Center at UMF, she said. Information and tours of the Education Center's green features will be given. Teaching tools and information as well as education-climate change activities that can be used with younger children will be available. Some science classes from local schools are expected to attend, she said.

As long as supplies last, people may bring in one incandescent light bulb and be given an energy-saving, compact fluorescent bulb, a light-bulb exchange, she said.

Solutions available and what it will take to reduce emissions by as much as 80 percent by mid-century will be addressed by speaker Beth Nagusky in her "Global Warming-The Clock is Ticking" presentation at 11:45 a.m. Thursday in Lincoln Auditorium.

Nagusky, former director of the Maine Office of Energy Independence and Security, was trained by Al Gore contingents, Freed said. She is energy climate director for GrowSmart Maine.

"She talks more fully about what it is we can do. The solutions are hard to listen to but if we all step up ... even our youngest citizens ... we don't want to scare people but the need is there," Freed said.

Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth," will be shown at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Room 111 at the Education Center. The film presents the argument that global warming is the biggest moral challenge facing the global civilization.

The Focus the Nation events are sponsored by the UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition, a University organization formed to promote environmental sustainability on campus and in the greater Farmington community.

"UMF is committed to providing responsible leadership in caring for our environment," UMF President Theodora J. Kalikow said in a written statement. "As an educational institution concerned with graduating good environmental stewards, we welcome the opportunity to bring the campus and local community together as we join in the national dialogue on global warming."

For more information, contact Freed at 778-8167 or andrea.freed@maine.edu