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If you’re feeling hopeless of late, remember that your work matters and you do too
“Hi everyone, the last few weeks have been rough. I was glad to end it with the #NonprofitHaiku contest to bring some levity and humor. A colleague on Twitter, though, pointed out the seriousness of all the challenges we face beneath the lightheartedness:
‘It’s a cute joke that there are raccoons in our supply closet. It’s hilarious. […] The conditions we work in, the demoralizing chaos and the barriers to success is literally killing people…'”
Agrivoltaics: Solar panels on farms could be a win-win
Many local food advocates argue that an inadequate portion of the food consumed in Massachusetts is grown there. The short growing season along with high costs for labor and land can make farming in Massachusetts a financially precarious proposition.
Some advocates say that dual-use solar installations have the potential to ease a number of these problems at once…
How do you convene your community on climate change? Here are some tips
The Climate Generation Climate Convenings Toolkit can help you organize a public gathering on climate change solutions in your community.
The Toolkit shares the essential elements for effective public conversations on climate change, as well as the practical tools for planning and implementing a convening in your community. The 20+ page guide is geared toward anyone interested in catalyzing deeper conversation, understanding, and action on climate change.
Pastor mobilizes black churches to act on climate
Reverend Doctor Ambrose F. Carroll says that African American churches are not often associated with environmentalism. But he wants to change that.
So, he founded Green the Church, a campaign to motivate environmental action at black churches. At Green the Church trainings, workshops, and conventions, faith leaders teach pastors and other church representatives the religious importance of protecting the earth. And, they provide strategies for engaging churches in renewable energy, food security, and environmental justice.
Film Series Featuring Climate Change: Woodstock Land Conservancy partners with community organizations
Inspired by Project Drawdown, which offers 100 practical solutions to reverse global warming, this year’s program focus is on the lifecycle of food and its components which rank high in their contribution to producing greenhouse gases. Woodstock Land Conservancy and others are providing a forum for people to address their impact.
Check out their film series in partnership with the Woodstock NY Transition, Woodstock Jewish Congregation, and Saint Gregory’s Episcopal Church for a monthly evening film, presentation, and discussion on four successive topics including regenerative agriculture, plant-rich diet, food waste, and composting.
They welcome a lively discussion about working together locally to make choices that lessen our impacts.
Presented the last Monday of the month from January through April, the Film & Discussion Series is free and open to all ages. Donations are welcome and help to support future programs.
We’re running out of time
“A widening madness threatens the world, only one thing can avert catastrophe, and we’re running out of time.
That’s no Hollywood action film trailer. It’s the sobering and all-too-real warning sounded by the world’s top climate scientists in an authoritative report released this week. We can still prevent runaway climate disaster, they conclude, but only by taking “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented” action now to shift to cleaner, smarter ways to power our future. We can do this, the report says, but we have about a decade—tops—to get it right…”
Wildfires and climate change push low-elevation forests across a critical climate threshold for tree regeneration
“Climate change is increasing fire activity in the western United States, which has the potential to accelerate climate-induced shifts in vegetation communities. Wildfire can catalyze vegetation change by killing adult trees that could otherwise persist in climate conditions no longer suitable for seedling establishment and survival. Recently documented declines in postfire conifer recruitment in the western United States may be an example of this phenomenon. However, the role of annual climate variation and its interaction with long-term climate trends in driving these changes is poorly resolved…”
Iconic Forests Reaching Climate Tipping Points in American West, Study Finds
Climate change in the American West may be crossing an ominous threshold, making parts of the region inhospitable for some native pine and fir forests to regrow after wildfires, new research suggests:
As temperatures rise, the hotter, drier air and drier soil conditions are increasingly unsuitable for young Douglas firs and ponderosa pines to take root and thrive in some of the region’s low-elevation forests, scientists write in a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Wildfires in these areas could lead to abrupt ecosystem changes, from forest to non-forest, that would otherwise take decades to centuries, the study says.
“Once a certain threshold was crossed, then the probability of tree establishment decreased rapidly,” said Kimberley Davis, a researcher at the University of Montana and lead author of the study. “The climate conditions are just a lot less suitable for regeneration.”
Climate change is leading to unpredictable ecosystem disruption for migratory birds
“Climates have natural variation and we’re moving rapidly into territory where the magnitude of climate change will consistently exceed this variation,” says lead author and Cornell Lab researcher Frank La Sorte.
“There will be no historic precedent for these new climates, and migratory bird populations will increasingly encounter ‘novel’ climatic conditions. The most likely outcome will be a period of ecological disruption as migratory birds and other species try to respond or adapt to these new conditions…”
How is climate change impacting your area?
If you are looking for a way to share the impact of climate change, with a trusted messenger and someone skilled in climate communications, check out Dr. Katharine Hayhoe’s Global Weirding video series. You’ll see videos for the northeast, midwest, southwest, and Canada—as well as this one for the pacific northwest.
These videos can be a great way for you and your local conservation organization to share climate messages in their e-News and social media. She knows how to talk to conservative audiences. See what you think…