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One man is trying to fight climate change by mobilizing an unlikely team: Iowa’s farmers
In early March, just a week before the Midwest was inundated by catastrophic flooding, a dozen farmers gathered at the First Presbyterian Church in Grinnell, Iowa, for an event billed as a conversation about “Faith, Farmers, and Climate Action.” “How is God calling you to use your farm to improve the world?” asked the evening’s facilitator, Matt Russell. “We’ve got this narrowing window of time in which we can act,” he said. “When we think about climate action—are you feeling any call to that?”
Russell directs the Iowa branch of Interfaith Power and Light, a nonprofit that promotes a religious response to global warming. A fifth-generation farmer who runs a livestock operation with his husband in nearby Lacona, Iowa, the 48-year-old nearly became a Catholic priest in his twenties but then got a degree in rural sociology. Now he preaches that America’s farmers—a demographic seen as religious and conservative—are a secret weapon in the climate fight.
Climate change fears propel scientists out of the lab and into the world
When Steve Ghan set out to walk 1,500 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, he brought along a bright blue hat emblazoned with four words: “Make Earth Cool Again.” It often drew compliments from other hikers, which he used as an opening.
“I’d tell them, ‘Yeah, I’m a climate scientist and I want to stop climate change,’” said Ghan, who completed the California segment of the trail in 2018…
Why the best leaders make love the top priority
Conservationists like to say how we are in it for the long haul. Yet how many leaders do you know (board or staff, volunteers or consultants) who invest in people as part of the strategy for making change? Climate change is going to test our ability to withstand tremendous heartbreak and stress—and we will need leaders to step up and make a difference.
In this inspiring talk, author and social entrepreneur Matt Tenney cites compelling case studies and research to help you see why making love a higher priority than profit is not only a more noble and fulfilling way to lead, it’s actually the surprising secret of the best leaders.
Matt Tenney is the author of “Serve to Be Great: Leadership Lessons from a Prison, a Monastery, and a Boardroom,” which is used in the leadership development programs of universities, government bodies, and companies to help leaders achieve better outcomes while living happier, more fulfilling lives…
Climate tipping points — too risky to bet against
“Politicians, economists and even some natural scientists have tended to assume that tipping points1 in the Earth system — such as the loss of the Amazon rainforest or the West Antarctic ice sheet — are of low probability and little understood. Yet evidence is mounting that these events could be more likely than was thought, have high impacts and are interconnected across different biophysical systems, potentially committing the world to long-term irreversible changes.
Here we summarize evidence on the threat of exceeding tipping points, identify knowledge gaps and suggest how these should be plugged. We explore the effects of such large-scale changes, how quickly they might unfold and whether we still have any control over them…”
Climate crisis: 11,000 scientists warn of ‘untold suffering’
‘The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists.
“We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency,” it states. “To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems…”’
Greta Thunberg: ‘They try so desperately to silence us’
“Swedish activist Greta Thunberg says young people are “bringing change” to the Madrid climate talks and will not be silenced.
At a news conference Miss Thunberg said that she hoped the negotiations would yield “something concrete”
The 16-year-old was mobbed by press and spectators when she visited the conference centre earlier on Friday.
She had to be escorted away for her own safety amid shouts of “leave her alone” from concerned observers.
Having arrived via overnight train from Lisbon to large crowds waiting for her in Madrid, Miss Thunberg was set to join a large demonstration in favour of rapid climate action this evening…”
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…”
Greta Is Right: Study Shows Individual Lifestyle Change Boosts Systemic Climate Action
“It is really important that scientists, or other messengers who communicate with the public, model those behaviors that reduce carbon emissions to drive their point home,” one of the authors, Professor Elke Weber, said in an interview released yesterday by Princeton University.
“Our new research showed that the carbon footprints of those communicating the science not only affects their credibility, but also affects audience support…
A Call to Action for land conservation in America
Land conservation is playing—and can play—a critical role in slowing down climate change as well as adapting to its impact. Here, Andrew Bowman outlines a vision for what could be done…
“Let’s first examine the role that land conservation can play in mitigating climate change, both by preventing the conversion of intact natural lands and through land management practices, such as reforestation and active soil management on working lands..”