How Will Climate Change Affect You and Your Community?

Many global problems call for local solutions. When citizens take responsibility for an issue such as pollution, they can bring about changes that often can't happen at the national level.

The first step is to learn about global warming and how it may affect your various day-to-day activities. Next consider how you, your friends, and colleagues may be contributing to the problem. From there you can start to find solutions. Maybe it's raising funds to put solar panels on the roof of the local school, or getting a lighting upgrade for the community center. Perhaps you can promote more bike paths and walking trails to help get people out of their cars. Invite a speaker to a town meeting. The possibilities are endless.

For more information about how to jumpstart a climate change action plan in your community, contact Ned Raynolds, nraynolds@cleanair-coolplanet.org.

Change to Come, in Our Back Yards…
The New England Regional Assessment study, "Preparing for a Changing Climate: The Potential Consequence of Climate Variability and Change" was released in September of 2001. Conducted over four years with multiple scientific, academic and public inputs for the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the study was part of the federal government's comprehensive National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, the authoritative assessment for the United States.
The regional report finds that much of New England (also including upstate New York) has warmed significantly during the last hundred years and that if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, projected climate change would make the region feel, by 2100, like Richmond or Atlanta do now. Such a shift would fundamentally alter both the character and the quality of life in the Northeast. Link to the report...

Ski Season 2003-2004: Snow or Slush?
Shifting temperature and precipitation patterns brought on by global warming have a big impact on one of the region’s premier industries: skiing. What’s in store for those looking forward to—or banking on—some fun on the slopes this winter? Read more…

A World Without Trout
Get used to choosing only between chicken or steak at your favorite restaurant, thanks to a warming-water trend that is affecting the coldwater stream habitat for trout and salmon. The culprit? Read more…

Read two CA-CP case studies on how community organizations are making a difference, follow these links:

• Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests: A High Tech Center to Showcase Conservation (PDF, 117 KB)
• Cobb-Hill Co-Housing Project: Pulling Together a Plan for Sustainable Living (PDF, 151 KB)

Climate Change Calculators

Try out these fast and fun calculators! They’ll help you determine how much energy you, your home, or your workplace uses and how much carbon dioxide is being produced as a result.

www.gmpvt.com/energy101/myhome.shtml

www.safeclimate.org/calculator/

Or have a look at these educational puzzles and games:

globalwarming.enviroweb.org/games/games.html