What's Up With The Climate

Are you confused by the many different committees, councils, caucuses and other groups that are advancing climate change policies in Vermont? I have to pause for the right titles for each group that is active and try to remember who they are and what they are doing. Here’s how I describe them. Vermont Climate Caucus . This is the group of legislators that are working together to implement policies at the state level.  They have been meeting for a few years and together were able to pass last year’s Global Warming Solutions Act that is now law. This year they are working to make sure every committee in the statehouse is incorporating some measures that will make a difference in greenhouse gas emissions, conservation, more resilient communities, and many other important climate-related measures. They meet every other week on Thursday’s at noon and their sessions are recorded so you can tune in at your convenience. Representative Till is very active in this group, and Representative ...

Keeping up with climate change science isn’t for everyone, but sometimes you just want to quickly get an update that you can understand. One of my favorite websites for data-based information on climate change is NASA. They create visuals that you can understand quickly and then dig deeper on a host of subjects.  NASA: Climate Change and Global Warming Quickly understand what drives sea level changes. “Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming: the added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers and the expansion of seawater as it warms.” Get statistics on global temperature trends. “Nineteen of the warmest years have occurred since 2000, with the exception of 1998. The year 2020 tied with 2016 for the warmest year on record since record-keeping began in 1880.”  Their global temperature time series visual from 1884 to 2020 is worth seeing! Global Temperature | Vital Signs – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet (nasa.gov) The effects of g...

 When arctic weather bends as far south as Texas, one common question is "how can this be related to climate change, or global warming?". It's all about instability. What were once relatively stable global air circulation patterns have been thrown into flux. You'll find many examples in recent years of when this has occurred, but not always why it is connected to climate change. In the words of Dr. Ullrich at UC Davis: " warming of the Earth has led to the loss of Arctic sea ice, transforming a highly reflective icy surface to a dark absorptive surface. The change is warming higher latitudes and reducing the temperature difference between the warmer mid-latitude and polar regions. This weakens and destabilizes the polar jet stream, causing it to dip into lower latitudes, bringing polar air farther south. "  If you want pictures and a bit more explanation, check this out:  What is the Polar Vortex? - Science and Climate (ucdavis.edu)

  Vermont Climate Caucus Legislative Priorities for 2021 The State Legislature is in session and is addressing topics related to climate change. Here are a few of this year's topics. Transportation Modernization Act H. 94 (see below) Vermonters Enhanced Energy Savings Act (in Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee). Weatherization for low income Vermonters is at the core of this legislation. The Committee compiled data that Vermonters spend $5,800/yr on energy, half of this on transportation. This Bill would address weatherization incentives as well as transportation efficiencies. Once funding is identified their goal is to increase weatherization from 2,000 homes/year, to ca. 12,000 homes/year. Senator Bray speaks about this: https://youtu.be/kWBUxSyzKUc Builder Registration Bill H. 157  This Bill would make it mandatory for residential building contractors to be registered with the State. This will allow the State to work on education and training about thermal effic...

  Communicating Climate Change Science A well known and highly respected atmospheric scientist, Katherine Hayhoe, who is also an evangelical Christian, has taken on the mission of presenting technical climate science topics in ways that are easy to listen to and understandable by a lay audience. Several key messages she shares are: 1. Unless we talk about climate change it will not rise to be an important issue, especially locally, 2. People are much more likely to listen and make lifestyle changes from conversations with peers (people they trust, neighbors, political allies) than outsiders that are telling them what to do, and 3. Disinformation campaigns have effectively created a political polarization between democrats and republicans and between climate believers and climate deniers. Katherine Hayhoe presentations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtrYNGs9oRM She is from Texas and suggests the article below to draw attention to the need for creating resilient infrastructure as o...

 In the beginning ... The amount of information available on climate change is huge. For a small town group that wants to know what can be done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or build community resilience in the face of climate forces, we needed a way to take small bites, think it over, talk about it, and digest what is important. A bite-size summary of current news, events, legislation, and science seemed like a manageable solution.  There will be a "Topic of the day" for each blog, with links that can be followed for a more thorough accounting. Then when our group meets we can discuss what is of interest.