Our Changing Climate
The Greenhouse Effect
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are essential to life on Earth. They provide a "blanket" in our atmosphere, trapping heat and regulating the Earth's temperature. However, when we burn fossil fuels to power our homes, businesses, and vehicles, we increase the level of GHGs in the atmosphere, creating a much thicker "blanket" that disrupts the Earth's climate. The result is more intense storms, flooding, and heat waves, which we are already experiencing worldwide.
The top 2,000 climate scientists in the world have said our window for action is closing.*
Our Changing Climate
300 Years of Fossil Fuel History in 300 Seconds
What are fossil fuels? When and why did we start burning them? How has it gotten out of control? The answer to all these questions and more is in this short video.
Our Changing Climate
Hasn't Earth Always Warmed and Cooled?
Great observation! Yes, it has. What's unusual and invoking the word "crisis" this time is the rate of warming. The NASA Earth Observatory does a great job of explaining the cause for concern. From evidence gathered in things like glaciers, coral reefs, oceans, and trees, scientists can get a pretty decent picture of the atmospheric makeup of Earth at a given point in history. As a result, they determined that Earth's temperature rose 4 to 7 degrees Celsius over about 5,000 years after the ice age. However, in the past century alone, the temperature has climbed 0.7 degrees Celsius and is projected to rise between 2 to 6 degrees Celsius in the next century.
The concern is that Earth's temperature is rising, yes, but even more alarming is the rate at which that increase is happening. This rate of warming is 20 times faster than previous warming events for this planet. With such an extreme difference, it's hard to know exactly what will happen but we do know that we are already feeling the impacts today.
Our Changing Climate
We Are Feeling the Impacts
In communities across the country we have been experiencing impacts from climate change already. Record blizzards have left residents without power and limited essential public transportation options for weeks after the storm. Intense and record heat waves, hurricanes, and other weather events can affect our communities in different ways - both over the short run, and later on with lasting impacts.
Explaining Climate Change to Younger Generations
Younger generations will be deeply affected by climate change. How do we explain it to them?
Our Changing Climate
It's About More Than the Weather
Climate hazards have far-reaching impacts in our communities. Some impacts we may recognize immediately - like downed power lines during extreme storms - but others may be less apparent, like the increasing cost to keep our homes cool in the summer while temperatures rise.
The good news? Addressing climate risks while taking action to make our communities more sustainable has many benefits that will enhance the health, safety, and quality of life of our community members.
Our Changing Climate
Reduce Our Contribution
The key to preventing the worst scenario of projected climate impacts is to reduce the amount of GHG emissions that we generate. Reducing emissions is a global effort, and every community that strives to meet bold reduction goals makes a difference. Many cities, states, and nations have already set targets to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, in line with recommendations from global experts.
What is Net Zero?
Put simply, net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests for instance. - UN Net Zero Coalition