Learning Guide
What’s the reality of climate change?
The climate crisis is advancing dangerously as a result of emissions of air pollutants including excess carbon dioxide, methane and refrigerant gasses, all the results of human activity. The 2024 NYS Climate Impacts Assessment reveals that the state’s climate has already endured significant changes, with average temperatures having increased by 2.6F since the early 20th century. As climate changes, NY is more likely to see more frequent and severe heat waves, rising sea levels causing increased coastal flooding, milder winters, and shifts in seasonal precipitation patterns putting new areas at flood risk. Concern about climate change has also been advancing rapidly, giving rise to a vibrant movement of citizens and businesses that are taking direct positive action. Learn more at: https://www.hvclimateroadmap.org/
How much has the climate changed already? What further changes are likely?
The New York State Climate Impacts Assessment explores the way New York’s climate has changed, and will change, between now and the end of this century. Since 1901, New York’s temperature has increased by approximately 2.6 F with temperatures since 2000 being higher than they were at any point in recorded history. Temperatures are expected to continue to increase anywhere between 5 F and 11 F. The total annual precipitation in the state has increased by 10-20% from 1901 to 2022, and this is expected to keep increasing by about 6-17% until the end of the century. The largest increases have been projected for New York City, the Catskills, and the lower Hudson Valley. Extreme weather events have also increased in amount with 15 storms hitting New York State at hurricane strength or tropical storm strength between 1851 and 2022, and these weather events are likely to increase intensity and amount. Sea level rise is also expected to affect New York City with sea level projected to rise by about 2-3 feet by the end of the century, with room to increase if part of the Antarctic Ice Sheet collapses. At this time sea level in NYC has risen by about 1 foot over the last 100 years. NY’s rivers and lakes have also felt the effects of climate change with increased water temperature, fluctuating water levels, and decreased ice cover, all of which would increase in a warmer, wetter future. Learn more at: https://nysclimateimpacts.org/explore-the-assessment/new-york-states-changing-climate/
What’s this notion of tipping points that people are talking about?
Climate tipping points are changes in the global system that lead to further release of greenhouse gasses and make positive feedback cycles worse. An example is melting of the polar ice caps, which leads to more release of methane from decomposing plant matter that is no longer frozen. Of twenty-five identified tipping points, we are at risk of reaching five in this decade according to the report; that is why our work to slow and eventually reverse climate change is so urgent. New York’s Climate Law has specific targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050 accomplishments for that very reason. Learn more at: https://global-tipping-points.org/
What’s going on in national policy?
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is one of the key policy initiatives addressing the climate crisis by focusing on investing in clean energy. The IRA includes strategic incentives to make the transition to clean energy and a decarbonized life easy and financially smart by offering upfront discounts, tax credits and low-cost financing in order to create a substantial amount of money for households to electrify key pieces of their life, like vehicles and heating systems, regardless of their income level. Learn more at: https://www.rewiringamerica.org/IRAguide
What is New York doing at the state level?
NY’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) focuses on protecting NY’s natural resources, creating economic opportunities, and ensuring a bright future for all New Yorkers. Signed into law in 2019, the CLCPA requires New York to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and no less than 85% by 2050 from 1990 levels. These goals will be achieved through the utilization of a clean energy grid of solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources that will, in combination with energy storage, deliver affordable and reliable electricity over the next decade. The act also focuses on saving New Yorkers’ energy expenses by using new clean heat pumps and cooling technologies combined with energy efficiency. There is also an emphasis on zero emission transportation options for families and neighborhoods. All of these goals will create thousands of green jobs across the state and reduce greenhouse gasses to not only combat climate change, but also keep communities healthier by reducing respiratory illnesses, and premature deaths, avoiding health care costs for households and taxpayers.
New York has also convened an Adaptation Practitioners Network to help communities deal with climate changes that are already in motion, developed an Extreme Heat Action Plan, and established the Clean Air, Clean Water Environmental Bond Act with over $4M in funding for environmental protection and justice investments.
Learn more at:
https://guides.brooklaw.edu/c.php?g=1197665&p=9637294
How is climate change an issue in the upcoming election?
2024 is a critically important election year for federal and state climate policies that will be determined by the choice voters make. The Biden-Harris Administration returned the US into the Paris Climate Agreement after the previous Administration had withdrawn. The wide-ranging programs of the Inflation Reduction Act have geared up and already given rise to clean energy manufacturing operations in the US, as well as tax credits for ordinary people that make clean energy investments affordable for homes and small businesses.
Shockingly, many people who call themselves environmentalists do not vote. The Environmental Voter Project is a smart, nonpartisan organization that has moved the needle by turning millions of low-propensity voters into can’t-wait-to-vote people. From October 22 through the election, Sustainable Hudson Valley is partnering with EVP on an ambitious phone banking project to get out the vote in the hotly contested Congressional Districts 17, 18 and 19, which will significantly shape the composition of the US House of Representatives.
Learn more at: https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/understanding-pro-climate-voters/
Why does Hudson Valley Climate Solutions Week+ include so many events about water and land? What’s the connection?
The amount of climate pollution in the atmosphere is what we put into it, minus what nature can draw out, as carbon dioxide is what plants breathe. Natural climate solutions are the most cost-effective and bring the side benefits of more beautiful, enjoyable landscapes. Also, the climate crisis is linked with the crisis in biodiversity and extinction. Protecting habitats and food webs preserves nature which can be our best ally.
What’s the story on Environmental Justice?
Environmental Justice is the recognition that everyone, no matter their race, national origin, or income, has the right to the same environmental protections. Climate change is a “threat multiplier” – meaning it makes existing threats worse, like poor air quality and vulnerability to floods, which disproportionately affect those who live in the most polluted and degraded environments, typically people of color and those living in poverty. The CLCPA and federal IRA both require investing significant funds to help these communities not only with equal access to clean energy opportunities, but with opportunities to redesign their patterns of development and take control of local assets. Learn more at: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/environmental-justice-movement
What can I do to be part of the solution in my home and working life?
Reduce your footprint gradually by adjusting your lifestyle through little experiments, getting more ambitious as you learn. Getting a home energy assessment and signing up for community solar are two things you can do without expense or risk. The Clean Power Guide can help you take the next steps. Learn yummy recipes you can make with less meat and more local ingredients. Share what you are learning at home and at work - with warmth, empathy, and the recognition that everyone’s path is a little different. Show that people who care about climate change also care about their neighbors!
What can I do to get involved in my community?
Scroll through the HV Climate Solutions Week+ partner organizations’ websites for abundant opportunities!
The Hudson Valley has the most local Climate Smart Community programs in all of New York; these volunteer-led commissions are appointed by local and county governments, involving everyday people in learning, planning, and hands-on projects. These are especially great opportunities for people with background in engineering, architecture, technology and planning, but there is work for educators and organizers too. Organizations participating in Climate Solutions Week+ – like Citizens Climate Lobby and Partners for Climate Action – are active all year long. SHV is especially excited about partnering with the Environmental Voter Project to phone bank into New York’s Congressional Districts 17, 18 and 19. Anyone can be trained and help to make a difference.
My favorite uncle insists that climate change is a hoax. What do I say?
Get familiar with the misinformation and confusion out there by visiting www.skepticalscience.org. You might open a conversation by asking him whether he has directly observed any changes in weather patterns since he was young. One good way to stop talking past each other in polarized conversations is to refer to our own direct experience. A great model and strategist is conservative climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, author of Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, and her LinkedIn feed is wonderful.