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Climate
Change and You
The
debate is over: we know that human actions are causing the earth
to warm. But it is less clear what climate change means for
us and our communities. We need to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases to minimize the extent of warming (mitigation). But we
also need to cope with the warming we know is coming (adaptation),
even if we stopped all emissions tomorrow. There will be more
rain and less snow, a longer mud season, longer droughts, sea
level rise, northward shifts in the ranges of plants and animals,
insect outbreaks, and an increase in the frequency and intensity
of weather events such as nor'easters. What this means for your
own community will be a function of the local environment, and
what your community cares most about sustaining.
The
Community Climate Action Plan will help you decide how to deal
with climate change in your community. What businesses are vulnerable
to global warming? What businesses might even thrive? We conduct
an assessment of climate change vulnerability in your community,
and then help you figure out what actions will make your community
stronger and more resilient to expected changes. The CCAP is
a mechanism designed to help you and your community sort out
what climate change will mean for your economy and way of life
- and what you want to do about it.
What
the Community Climate Action Plan does for your community:
We
help begin the climate change conversation in your community:
We form a local
Climate Change Action Committee made of up citizens, from high
school students (the NEXT generation) to retirees, to lead the
community conversation.
We
build the community's understanding of climate change: We
arrange evening forums where current information about climate
change can be discussed and evaluated by community members,
and where your questions about climate change can be asked and
answered. How will climate change affect the economic, social,
and environmental values of your community?
We
help the community draft an Action Plan for mitigating and adapting
to climate change:
The Community Climate Action Committee generates, with our assistance,
a set of actions that the community can take to help sustain,
or even improve, quality of life with climate change.
Now
is the time to
be thinking about what your community needs to do to prepare
for climate change. The effects may not be felt immediately,
but we know they will be felt by our children and grandchildren.
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