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How to talk to kids about climate change
A few months ago, I was standing at the sink in the kitchen. Suddenly my daughter, who’s seven, said, “You’re lucky you got to have your adulthood before the planet was completely destroyed by climate change.”
How do you comfort a child when the science suggests she’s correct? These six tips form a guide to parenting through a slow-motion emergency…
Andlinger Center speaks: Why the messenger matters in climate action
“Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg has rocked the global stage as an advocate for climate action since the sixteen-year-old began skipping school to strike outside of the Swedish Parliament last year. In December 2018, she demanded a secure environmental future from international leaders at the United Nations (UN) COP24 Climate Change Conference. Her efforts galvanized millions to participate in a “Global Climate Strike,” ahead of the UN’s Climate Action Summit last month. Thunberg made a statement by traveling to New York for the meeting in a racing boat equipped with solar panels and hydro-powered generators, a zero-carbon trip, instead of by plane…”
Thanks to climate change and wetter weather, forest soils are absorbing less methane
Forests can remove methane from the atmosphere through the activity of soil bacteria. But increasing precipitation—a symptom of climate change—is making it harder for forest soils to trap greenhouse gases, creating a feedback loop that exacerbates global warming.
So reports a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which concludes that forest soils have been overestimated as methane sinks…
Unfamiliar ground: Bracing for climate impacts in the American Midwest
Think of a Minnesota with almost no ice fishing. A Missouri that is as hot and dry as Texas. River and lake communities where catastrophic flooding happens almost every year, rather than every few generations.
This, scientists warn, is the future of the Midwest if emissions continue at a high rate, threatening the very core of the region’s identity…
Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater lakes
Every drop of fresh water contains thousands of different organic molecules that have previously gone unnoticed. By measuring the diversity of these molecules and how they interact with the environment around them, research has revealed an invisible world that affects the functioning of freshwater ecosystems and can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions…
Two-thirds of North American birds are at increasing risk of extinction from global temperature rise
By stabilizing carbon emissions and holding warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, 76 percent of vulnerable species will be better off, and nearly 150 species would no longer be vulnerable to extinction from climate change.
The paradox of global warming and colder winters
Is there a link between the vanishing Arctic sea ice and extreme weather? Many prominent climate researchers think so.
That’s because warming temperatures in the Arctic are altering the behavior of the polar jet stream, a high-altitude river of air that drives weather patterns across the globe. As the winds that propel the jet stream weaken, storms, droughts, and extreme heat and cold move over continents at slower rates, meaning bad weather can stick around for longer. Check out this video—it’s nicely done.
To Slow Global Warming, U.N. Warns Agriculture Must Change
“Humans must drastically alter food production to prevent the most catastrophic effects of global warming, according to a new report from the United Nations panel on climate change.
The panel of scientists looked at the climate change effects of agriculture, deforestation and other land use, such as harvesting peat and managing grasslands and wetlands. Together, those activities generate about a third of human greenhouse gas emissions, including more than 40% of methane…”
It’s Time To Get Serious About Reducing Food Waste, Feds Say
Word that Americans throw away about one-third of our available food has been getting around.
Now there’s an official goal aimed at reducing that waste.
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency — along with many private-sector and food-bank partners — announced the first ever national target for food waste.
“[We’re] basically challenging the country to reduce food waste by 50 percent by the year 2030,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tells The Salt…
Farmers are using food waste to make electricity
If you piled up all the food that’s not eaten over the course of a year in the U.S., it would be enough to fill a skyscraper in Chicago about 44 times, according to an estimate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
And, when all this food rots in a landfill, it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. In fact, a recent report from the United Nations from a panel of climate experts estimates that up to 10 percent of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food waste…