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Emissions
Robert S. Donovan/Earthjustice

Guest post: What the tiny remaining 1.5C carbon budget means for climate policy

Many folks aren't aware that there is a carbon "budget." Once we hit that level of climate pollution it will be difficult to scale it back in a manner that will avoid large-scale devastation to many of the plants, animals, farms, ranches — and our communities — as we know them.

The latest estimates from the Global Carbon Project (GCP) show that total worldwide CO2 emissions in 2022 have reached near-record levels.

The GCP’s estimates put the remaining carbon budget for 1.5C – specifically, the amount of CO2 that can still be emitted for a 50% chance of staying below 1.5C of warming – at 380bn tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2). At the current rate of emissions, this budget would be blown in just nine years.

While that is a disconcertingly short amount of time, the budget for 1.5C may actually be even tighter.

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Author
WeConservePA

Dr. Michael Mann, Keynote Speaker

Land trusts can be an important part of the climate solution. We have an opportunity to continue to amplify the change that needs to happen.

Dr. Michael Mann will speak at the Pennsylvania Land Trust Conference in April 2023. A world-renowned climate scientist and climate communicator, Dr. Michael E. Mann is Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. His most recent book is The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet.

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Pollution
Andreas Habich

Communicating the human causes of global warming increases public engagement

Communicating the impacts of climate change, and the drivers, is important in connecting people to solutions. This research conveys what that might look like.

Importantly, there were no backlash effects among Republicans, and in fact understanding increased among Republicans more than among Democrats, on average. This suggests that when informed about climate change causes, impacts, and solutions, most Americans will update their own climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, and policy support….

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Farmer
Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media

Three-quarters of Montana farmers, ranchers anxious about climate change, survey finds

Farmers and ranchers have depended on a relatively stable climate for generations. That's no longer possible. Conserving the land won't ensure agriculture survives, and farmers know it. We can help.

Paul Lachapelle of Montana State University says the growing risks and uncertainty are taking a toll on farmers’ and ranchers’ mental health.

He and co-researchers surveyed about 120 Montana farmers and ranchers.

“Nearly three quarters noted they were experiencing moderate to high levels of anxiety when thinking about climate change and its effects on their agricultural business,” Lachapelle says.

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Beaver
iStock

Saving Our Swamps [Letter in the New Yorker Magazine]

Taking the time to reinforce ideas in the public realm is important if we are going to change people's perceptions of climate solutions. It's not easy getting published. Often you have to respond quickly, which means paying attention to what's going on around you and reserving time to be nimble.

Here you will find a short letter submitted by the land trust’s executive director, under the heading “Letters respond to Annie Proulx’s piece about swamps” (and beavers as part of the climate solution):

The dewatering of North America that Proulx describes was underway well before the nineteenth century, when westward expansionists began cutting down forests and farmers began draining and tilling fields. By the time those people were “reclaiming” land for their use, fur traders had been wreaking havoc on our wetlands for almost two hundred years, through the commodification of beavers…

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Mara

Person to follow: Mara Hoplamazian

Mara Hoplamazian is a reporter for New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR). They might be someone to keep on your radar, as a source for important news on climate.

Mara Hoplamazian reports on climate change, energy, and the environment for NHPR, part of our By Degrees initiative. They joined the station in 2021 as a Couch Fellow. Originally from Chicago, Mara earned their undergraduate degree in American Studies from Yale University. Mara uses the pronouns they/them/theirs. You can email them at mhoplamazian@nhpr.org, or get in touch through Twitter @/mara_hop.

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Playground
iStock

Parks as part of the climate solution

Climate change is bearing down on the world faster than scientists predicted, making life in cities especially challenging. Densely built environments, dominated by concrete and pavement, absorb and hold heat longer than natural landscapes. They are also more prone to flooding as extreme precipitation dumps so-called rain bombs on urban areas that become inundated with dangerous — even lethal — amounts of stormwater.

As a warming planet leads to worsening risks and impacts, American cities are taking matters into their own hands. Cities are not only pledging to slash carbon emissions in the coming decades. They are also figuring out how to be more resilient. Because one thing is clear: disadvantaged communities that have been historically neglected will suffer the most as the planet warms.

Park acres, it turns out, are very good at buffering the effects of climate change. Green space has the power to lower air temperature and absorb floodwater and can be designed in such a way as to significantly enhance those climate benefits…

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Ccl
CCL

Our solution to climate change? Democracy.

Conserving Carolina says, "Three cheers for our partners the Citizens Climate Lobby who successfully supported this [carbon tax credit] policy in Canada and who are mobilizing grassroots support for it in the U.S.! Citizen lobbyists are the heart of this campaign. If you want to be a part of the solution, find your local chapter of CCL and get involved." Check it out....

We empower everyday people to work together on climate solutions…

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Salamander
Judy Anderson

Ensuring that NbS support thriving human and ecological communities

Over three days at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the Nature-based Solutions Conference considered techniques such as forest creation or mangrove restoration, which are increasingly appearing in climate strategies.

Their mission is to enhance understanding of the value of nature-based solutions to societal challenges and to help ensure they support thriving human societies and ecosystems without compromising efforts to keep fossil fuels in the ground…

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barn
iStock

Americans beginning to correlate extreme weather with a climate crisis, but purse strings are still tight

A recent poll found that 70% of Americans see climate change as a crisis or major problem. And while 78% of Americans reported being personally affected by extreme weather, only 39% are willing to take on costs to prevent it. Understanding what people care about and how they can see value in those changes will be important. Many are feeling the stress of inflation and uncertainty.

Broader socioeconomic factors are also affecting those who are experiencing weather events, and more importantly, how these parties can financially respond to these events — and thus how willing they are to pay even more.

For instance, only 29% of households that experienced extreme events had 100% of their damages covered by insurance. Renters though had it worse — with those who have experienced extreme events being uninsured 70% of the time…

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