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Climate action cannot be just any action. It must be on a scale and time frame that will make a difference. Effective action depends not only on sound science, but sometimes also requires pre-emptive action on issues not yet completely understood, such as permafrost melting . Our infrastructures must be maintained and updated according to projected Climate Change findings. If actions are thought to be too expensive, that cost must be measure against inaction. Finances should be made to fit the crisis, not the other way around, as many free-market fundamentalists would like. You can have life on this planet without our present economic system, but you cannot have our present economic system without life on this planet. We need to get our priorities straight. The following transcript by climate scientist Professor Richard Alley explains in plain words the costs of inaction on Climate Change: “Alley: Climate change in the short term is expensive but not hugely so, and as the climate cha...

Climate Change can quickly undo many of the long, hard-won adaptations wildlife have accomplished to survive in a specific climate. Presently, our very quickly warming climate is changing too fast for some species to adapt: “…warmer temperatures equals spoiled food equals Gray Jay nests failing en masse.” (from article below) Spoiler Alert: Can Gray Jays Survive Warmer Weather?  They’re the warm-blooded creature that goes to great lengths to survive boreal cold blasts of minus 40 degrees, yet their future in Algonquin Park is threatened because the weather is getting mellow. It’s that last irony—the climate change connection—that Norris, an ecology professor at Ontario’s University of Guelph, is studying. He’s the third generation of principal investigators on a research project that stretches back over a half-century in Algonquin Park. For the past 40 years, the project has documented a stark downward trend: a 50 percent decline in the study’s Gray Jay population since 1977.. (J...

Though Climate Change is moving quickly through New York and other regions, it’s still difficult for scientists to evaluate the precise consequences because changes in climate still take decades to play out. We know that our heavy rainfall events have increased 71% since 1958 , for example, but we still don’t know the exact relationship between the recent outbreaks of harmless algae, harmful algae outbreaks (HABs), and Climate Change. HABs are a danger to our drinking water, our pets, our shoreline properties, swimming beaches, and much more. [Check out Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) , by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) We know that there has been a dramatic increase in HABs in our Finger Lakes region. “Unseasonably warm days in early and mid September have fueled a surge in harmful algal blooms, or HABs, in New York’s Finger Lakes, firmly establishing 2017 as the region’s worst year on record. Last year, the often toxic green scum was reported on the surface...

We should place a top priority on enhancing City development that encourages more public transit and active transportation (walking and bicycling) to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation in the US accounts for 27% of greenhouse gas emissions according to the EPA . Rochester, in their Climate Action Plan , finds that figure to be 24% for our community. That’s a big chunk of our carbon footprint. If Rochester’s new comprehensive plan, Rochester 2034 , can design for transit corridors that are attractive, where development builds on the communities already thriving in our neighborhoods, that makes it more likely that the public will achieve a lower carbon footprint. A robust public transit system is key to making our future livable by encouraging human growth—not parking lot sprawl. Transit supportive development encourages a mix of complementary activities and destinations (e.g., housing, work, shopping, services, and entertainment) along major streets and centers. Transit...