Averting Climate Change Locally

Climate change is already in effect as global temperatures in many parts of the U.S. are already rising, seas levels are rising, ocean acidification is happening and we are seeing the impacts of these changes in the climate. I have been doing a lot of research lately on the local impacts of climate change and wanted to bring some interesting data to people.

The first link that I found shows the fastest warming cities and sates in the U.S. Some of the cities and states on the list may not be a surprise and other may be total surprises, I in fact was quite surprised that Boise, ID (my home city) is the 13th fastest warming city in the country with temperatures having risen 3.9 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 48 years. Yet Idaho is not one of the fastest warming states in the country. The link to this article is below:

https://assets.climatecentral.org/pdfs/April2019_Report_EarthDay.pdf?pdf=AmericanWarming-Report

Another interesting one is that in 2016 the EPA released state by state data on the potential impacts that climate change can have on each state. I read the Idaho data because I was curious to see how my state would be impacts dby climate change. Water is going to be the biggest challenge in Idaho as climate change continues to wreck havoc. I was really surprised to see that due to decreased water flows that Idaho’s hydroelectric power generation would be reduced. This is significant because 51% of the state of Idaho’s power is generated by hydroelectric sources. The link to the impacts that climate change will have on Idaho is below and there is data for each state as well. I found Idaho’s info my typing “how climate change will impact water in Idaho”.

https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-id.pdf

Each state will be impacted differently by climate change and we all need to be on the same page and take the same actions to avert climate change. Local action is going to be the key to this process as the federal government currently denies climate change and state and local governments are making efforts to reduce their carbon emissions by 2035, which is great and 2035 is too late as the effects of climate change may be too strong to reverse by then. So local action is the key.

I know that I’m normally a make a big point and veer you in a direction. And I won’t do that this time, what I will do is ask you to think of an action or actions that you can take to make an impact locally on climate change. Once you think of an action or actions that you can take find a group of people whom you can share them with and start taking action on a local level. Every action does make a difference no matter how big or small.