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As we watch lead science agency positions being taken over by folks who are diametrically opposed to the missions of the institutions they will soon take over, we might pause and figure out how this disaster came about. Make no mistake, this is a disaster, one that even its most ardent proponents did not believe would actually happen. However Pollyannaish your take is on Trump’s ability to unravel years of environmental regulations, undo efforts to address Climate Change, and put science itself into Limbo, this year’s elections results are the worst case scenario for our chance at a sustainable future. Spending our time trying recover what we had, when we should be moving drastically forward, may well spell irreversible damage to our life support system. As climate Scientist Michael Mann has said, “ Trump's Policies Are 'Game Over' for Our Climate .” (Climate Scientist Michael Mann: Trump's Policies Are 'Game Over' for Our Climate, November 13, 2016, The Real Ne...

If you only have about forty-five minutes to learn everything you need to know about Climate Change, a good source would be the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Change Indicators in the United States 2016 Fourth Edition . Considering the massive changes coming to the EPA (probably not in a good way), I highly recommend you download this report soon. Very soon. You can both view and download the full report here . This report is peer-reviewed, amazingly easy to read, and organized for quick comprehension. It’s the fourth since the EPA started publishing them in 2010. The report is framed around 37 climate indicators. Why Use Indicators? One important way to track and communicate the causes and effects of climate change is through the use of indicators. An indicator represents the state or trend of certain environmental or societal conditions over a given area and a specified period of time. (Page 3, Climate Change Indicators in the United States 2016 Fourth Edition ) Cons...

While protecting our forests is crucial, it is delusional to think any single or even a hundred separate, specific actions are the ‘best’ way to fight Climate Change . Protecting forests is the best way to fight climate change'  With the Cancún Declaration adopted at the Convention on Biological Diversity summit, DW talks to an indigenous leader on how native peoples are defending the Earth's forests - and through that, biodiversity and climate. At the 13th meeting of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD CoP13), representatives from more than 190 nations are discussing conservation in Cancun from December 4 to 17. Already on Saturday (03.12.2016), delegates  agreed to adopt the Cancún Declaration  to ramp up efforts to protect the world's biodiversity. At the conference, indigenous groups' role in protecting biodiversity will be among the topics in the spotlight. Leaders from the Amazon region, Congo and Indonesia, among others, are unifying the...

Transportation (26 percent of 2014 greenhouse gas emissions) – Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation primarily come from burning fossil fuel for our cars, trucks, ships, trains, and planes. Over 90 percent of the fuel used for transportation is petroleum based, which includes gasoline and diesel. (EPA, Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions ) At a recent public meeting about our transportation future in the Rochester region, I arrived expecting that there wouldn’t be much discussion about Climate Change. My expectations were confirmed, except that I brought up the specter of the link between Climate Change and transportation issues. It only got a respectful but gloomy nod of recognition. The meeting was the Community Symposium on the Future of Transportation Technology , sponsored by the Genesee Transportation Council. Though I’ve tried to connect the dots between transportation and Climate Change in a couple of leadership capacities (chair of the local Sierra Club’s transportation...