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Arctic Climate Feedback Loops: Heat, Melting Ice and Fires

August 23, 2018 Add Comment Edit

The Arctic is being ravaged by a trifecta of three interrelated phenomenon that are all connected by climate change. Global warming is contributing to more heat waves. Hotter average temperatures in the Arctic are also melting the ice and causing wildfires.

These three phenomenon are interacting synergistically to amplify climate changes. These interrelationships can also be described as climate feedback loops, meaning they are vicious cycles that accelerate warming. Various permutations of feedback loops can be found between these three phenomenon.

Heat Waves

This year's hot summer is but the latest example of decades of hot data. Weather in the Arctic is completely out of whack and this should concern us all. The world is warming because of climate change but in the Arctic that warming is taking place twice as fast. The Arctic acts as a global climate regulator, so what we see happening there has implications for us all.

Climate change is causing the Arctic spring to start 16 days early than it did a decade ago, it is also causing algae blooms. This is the finding of a study by researchers from the University of California, Davis that was published last March in the journal Scientific Reports. Last winter the temperature in the Arctic was 3°C warmer than average and in the month of February it was 10°C warmer in some places.

These Arctic heatwaves are unprecedented and they have stunned scientists. "The extended warmth really has staggered all of us," said Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute. Calling these heatwaves statistical anomalies belittles the reality. "It’s just crazy, crazy stuff," said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder Colorado.

In Northern Siberia, along the coast of the Arctic Ocean temperatures were 90°F on July fifth that is 40°F above normal. "It is absolutely incredible and really one of the most intense heat events I’ve ever seen for so far north," meteorologist Nick Humphrey was quoted as saying in the Washington Post.

Melting Ice

This record breaking warmth is occurring against the backdrop of melting ice. We are seeing diminishing sea ice, declining glaciers and thawing permafrost both on land and on the ocean floor.

Last February, Arctic sea ice had shrunk 62,000 square miles below last year's record low. This is more than a half a million square miles below the 30 year normal. Recently a massive section of ice disappeared in Greenland. Ice is disappearing in the Arctic and there is not much doubt about why. "Climate change is the overriding thing," data center senior scientist Walt Meier said.

Melting ice also increases temperatures through a phenonomenon known as the albeido effect. Ice reflects light back into space, when there is less ice, less light is reflected back into space and this drives surface temperatures even higher.

Climate change has shrunk the glacier on Sweden's highest peak. A Stockholm University geography professor claims that during July the summit of Kebnekaise mountain fell by four metres and is no long Sweden's highest peak. Glaciers in Canada's high Arctic are also disappearing according to satellite imagery. The 200 meter thick ice shelves are collapsing at an increasing rate and risk disappearing altogether. This is the conclusion of researchers from the University of Ottawa who published a study in June in the Journal of Glaciology. European and Canadian glaciers are not the only Arctic glaciers that are melting, so are those in Alaska.

The most obvious consequence of melting Arctic ice is sea level rise, however there are other even more apocalyptic implications. The permafrost on the ground and on the ocean floor is also melting and this is unleashing vast quantities of methane a potent greenhouse gas.

The permafrost is also releasing CO2 the primary GHG. It only covers around 8 percent of the Arctic land surface but there is 1,500 billion tons of carbon locked in the permafrost. This is half the global total in amount of carbon the ground and twice the amount of CO2 currently in the atmosphere. According to a NASA study published last month the rate at which carbon is released from the permafrost into the atmosphere is accelerating. The study concluded that Arctic carbon spends 13 percent less time locked in frozen soil that it did four decades ago.

Approximately 1.9 million square kilometres of the Arctic is composed of either forested and non-forested peatland. When Arctic peatlands thaw they are also prone to greenhouse gas intensive wildfires.

Wildfires

The link between climate change heat and wildfires is increasingly well documented. Extreme heat in the Arctic is causing unprecedented wildfires that have serious global implications. Severe drought and heat in northern Sweden ignited more than 80 wildfires this summer that burned more than 30,000 hectares across the country.

A total of at least 11 large fires burned in Sweden's Arctic. The main culprit appears to be the hot dry conditions which have made vegetation highly combustible. Four northern Swedish communities were evacuated and tens of thousands have been cautioned to remain indoors to reduce smoke inhalation.

Sweden is not the only Arctic nation that has been plagued with wildfires. A bit more than one year ago Greenland's thawed peatland was ablaze, in 2014 fires ravaged parts of Canada's Boreal forest. Russia has also seen an increase in fires in the far north as has Norway, Finland, and the United States.

The Guardian quotes climate scientist Vincent Gauci as saying that heat as the catalyst that make these fires possible. The threat can be expected to increase as the planet continues to warm.

Wildfires are not only caused by climate change, they also add to it. Wildfires spew vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and this causes planetary warming that is exacerbated by increasing Arctic wildfires. To add insult to injury, wildfires in the Arctic can dramatically darken sea ice reducing the albeido effect and further accelerate warming.

Feedback loops

The Arctic is especially prone to negative climate feedback loops. Climate change induced warming causes wildfires that emit carbon and increase global warming. Heat also causes the thawing and drying of Arctic peatlands and when they burn they release significantly more carbon than wildfires elsewhere. This accelerates global warming and sets the stage for more fires.

The feedback loops between heat, ice and fire may even augur tipping points from which we have no hope of recovering.

Related
Heat Connects Wildfires to Climate Change
Why the Fate of the Arctic Should be of Concern to Us All
The Dangerous Feedback Loop Between Wildfires and Climate Change
Feedback Loops Between Wildfires Peat and Carbon
Arctic Warming Feedback Loops: Algae Blooms and Thawing Permafrost
Extreme Weather and Fossil Fuels Feedback Loop Makes the Case for Clean Energy
The State of Arctic Warming and Melting Ice
Rising CO2 Emissions and Ongoing Heat Records Especially in the Arctic
More Evidence of Historic Arctic Warming: Lake Sediment and Ice Cores
Arctic Sea Ice is Disappearing

Beaches are Facing Environmental and Climate Threats

July 31, 2015 Add Comment Edit

Beaches are a favorite summertime destination but they are suffering from environmental degradation and climate change. Our coastal and inland beaches are facing some very serious problems due to overpopulation, obsolete sewage systems, and erosion associated with climate related sea level rise. These impacts on coastal ecosystems is documented in a 2014 report titled Coastal Zone Development and Ecosystems.

The growth of coastal populations has put a profound strain on aging infrastructure resulting in polluted beaches and waterways. Each year, more than 1.2 million people move to the coast. Beaches are suffer from erosion due to extreme weather and rising sea levels. This includes inland beaches like those along the shores of the Great Lakes.

Fresh water beaches are subject to increasing levels of salinity due sea level rise which pushes ocean water inland. The higher salt content in inland waters contribute to a feedback loop which exacerbates pollution. Salt water corrodes sewage pipes which causes leaks that can lead to high levels of water born contamination in recreational swimming areas.

The combination of water borne waste, litter and watercraft are making our beaches sick. The most recent American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Infrastructure Report Card gives the nation’s wastewater systems a very poor grade. The report indicates that over 900 billion gallons of untreated sewage are dumped into local waterways each year. This is particularly true during storms.

Inadequate infrastructure was also singled out as the primary source of water pollution by the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) in its annual Testing the Waters report.

The U.S. National Climate Assessment for the Great Lakes warns that increased precipitation wrought by climate change will continue to amplify combined sewer overflows and surface runoff, degrading regional water quality.

There are several things that can be done to address the problems faced by our beaches. Population density can be minimized along the coasts and inland waterways by issuing less building permits. Infrastructure investments can improve sewage lines and treatment. In particular these facilities can be upgraded to accommodate storm surges. Perhaps the most important single thing that can be done to save our beaches involves reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. This will can keep temperatures from rising dramatically. The result will be less sea level rise and lowered frequency of storm surges associated with extreme weather.

Related
El Niño and Global Warming are Locked in a Feedback Loop
The Dangerous Feedback Loop Between Wildfires and Climate Change
Arctic Warming Feedback Loops: Algae Blooms and Thawing Permafrost

The Aboriginal Sustainability Network (ASN)

June 21, 2013 Add Comment Edit

The Aboriginal Sustainability Network (ASN), is an information sharing portal designed to advance sustainable development in aboriginal communities. It is currently comprised of a number of aboriginal communities including the Tsou of Taiwan, the Taroko of Taiwan, the Unama’ki Mi’kmaq of Canada, and the Ngāti Hauiti iwi of Auteaora/New Zealand. As explained on their website, "The project is investigating the potential of a workshop-based, Internet-supported network for the exchange of knowledge and strategies amongst communities working to develop environmental sustainability."

The ASN was founded in 2005 by Bill Hipwell at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

They have hosted a number of workshops on environmental stewardship. Through their website they also widely share information on sustainability.

Their web-site is intended as a virtual “community of practice”, a place where aboriginal communities can exchange knowledge and strategies for cultural survival and sustainable development.

Aboriginal (indigenous) nations from around the world are welcome to contact the project team to discuss joining the ASN.

For access to ASN resources click here.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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What we can Learn from Walpole Island First Nation

June 21, 2013 Add Comment Edit

The Walpole Island First Nation experience is a living example for the wider world because they are a remarkably sustainable community. They have managed to retain a very high level of biodiversity that includes many plant and animal species found nowhere else in Canada. The sustainability success story of Walpole Island First Nation has been achieved through their native philosophies and their traditional values and attitudes, which are based on respectful human and environmental interactions.

Walpole Island Indian Reserve is nestled between Ontario, Canada and Michigan, USA at the mouth of the St. Clair River. Occupied by aboriginal people for thousands of years, it is today home to 2,000 Ojibwa, Potawatomi and Ottawa. Having a common heritage they formed the Council of Three Fires--a political and cultural compact that has survived the test of time.

The people of Walpole Island view life in a spiritual, holistic and dynamic way, but they believe that sustainable development must be defined in practical terms They understand that as our ecosystem knows no political boundaries, neither should sustainable development. They know that we need an integrated approach to reconcile the environment with economic development.

Their environmental programs and ecosystems have earned international acclaim and World Heritage status.

Here is a short list of some of the things that can be learned from the Walpole Island First Nations people.

1. Relationship between people an the natural world (cannot be seperated)
2. Respect all aspects of the environment both locally and globally
3. Recognize that people are dependent on the physical environment
4. View of the land and water as sacred
5. Responsibility to future generations
6. Responsible use of resources
7. Preservation, conservation, and enhancement of the natural environment
8. Environmental quality = quality of life

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Indigenous Ecology in Environmental Education

June 21, 2013 Add Comment Edit

Aboriginal environmental philosophies recognize the complex and interdependent relationships between human beings and nature. While differences exist across Aboriginal communities, there are commonalities in their environmental philosophies. Generally speaking, Aboriginal philosophies offer an ecological ethos focused on spirituality, stewardship and sustainability. Indigenous philosophies can teach people how to reconnect with nature and show them how to establish mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationships.

According to Native American educator Gregory Cajete, “The accumulated knowledge of the remaining indigenous groups around the world represents a body of ancient thoughts, experiences and actions that must be honoured and preserved as a vital storehouse of environmental wisdom. ... Modern societies must recapture the ecologically sustainable orientation that has long been absent from its psychological, social and spiritual consciousness”

For thousands of years before Europeans arrived in North America, indigenous people lived in harmony with the land. The environmental failings of European way of life should be obvious. A couple of hundred years after the white man arrivedin North America, the continent is suffering from widespread pollution and pervasive environmental degradation. Species have been decimated, the land is being plundered for oil and other resources and the waters are being polluted by industrial and agricultural effluents.

Indigenous ecology provides intercultural knowledge for the non-native community but they also offer benefits which extend to Aboriginal students. The inclusion of indigenous perspectives can help to foster engagement that values Aboriginal experiences and culture and promotes self-esteem and better learning outcomes.

Indigenous philosophies show us the way forward by offering a deeply spiritual ecological world view.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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New Support for the Interconnectedness of the Environment and the Economy

January 28, 2013 Add Comment Edit

Two new reports reiterate the scientific veracity of anthropogenic climate change while reinforcing the interconnectedness of the economy and the environment. The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report 201 clearly points to the interrelationship between the environment and the economy.

A draft of the third National Climate Assessment Report indicates that climate change is both an environmental and economic issue. The draft report was prepared by a federal committee and offers a comprehensive analysis of the latest and best peer-reviewed science on the extent and impacts of global warming on the US. The report restates the fact that climate change will have a wide range of impacts ranging from agriculture to water.

The 2013 NCADAC report, which engaged more than 240 authors, indicated that one of the salient reasons given for the rapidly changing climate is the copious burning of fossil fuels. Following two consecutive years of extreme weather, the report makes the connection between the increased incidence and severity of extreme weather and anthropogenic climate change.

According to the report, between 1980 and 2011, the overall losses from weather catastrophes was over $1 trillion. In 2012, there were a record number of extreme weather events which were eclipsed only by the number of such events in 2011. Hurricane Sandy alone cost an estimated $60 billion.
In an emailed statement, Gene Karpinski, the president of the League of Conservation Voters, said the NCADAC report confirms what many Americans already know:

“Climate change presents a major challenge for society,” the NCADAC committee’s leadership said in a letter addressed to the American people. The committee’s letter went on to say:

“This [NCADAC] draft report sends a warning to all of us,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat and chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, in an emailed statement. “We must act in a comprehensive fashion to reduce carbon pollution or expose our people and communities to continuing devastation from extreme weather events and their aftermath.”

Why is it so hard to get science-based legislation through Congress? The reason is that the Republicans control the House of Representatives.

For more than a decade, Republicans have vociferously resisted climate science. When it was published in 2000, the first NCADAC report was attacked by conservatives. The Bush administration went so far as to suppress its findings.

Today’s Republicans are far more conservative then they were when George W. Bush was President. Despite the extremism of many Republicans in Congress, many GOP voters think their leaders are not conservative enough. This view was articulated in a Rasmussen Poll, which found that 63 percent of Republicans across the country believe congressional Republicans are out of touch with the party’s base. In addition, only 30 percent of likely GOP voters think Republicans in Congress have done a “good job representing their party’s values over the past several years.”

The economy is the only concern that seems to resonate with many on the right. While Republicans are infamous for their war on climate science, perhaps the GOP will be motivated to consider the environment when the problem is rendered in terms of GDP.

As was written in the NCADAC committee letter, “climatic changes are having wide-ranging impacts in every region of our country and most sectors of our economy,” The 2013 National Climate Assessment draft concluded that efforts to address climate change “paves the way for economic opportunities”.

The interconnectedness of the environment and the economy is made clear in the WEF’s eighth edition of its Global Risks Report for 2013. This report ranks climate change from rising greenhouse gas emissions as a major global threat. Also high on the list is the failure of governments and businesses to mitigate or adapt to climate change.

The WEF works with governments to develop mechanisms for managing risk. The report rates the top global risks based on a survey of over 1000 experts from industry, government and academia. The 2013 report sampled respondents from more than 100 countries, although the majority came from Europe and North America. A total of 40 percent of respondents came from a business background.

The 2013 report indicates that ongoing economic weakness detracts from our ability to tackle environmental challenges. At the report’s launch, John Drzik, the CEO of the risk and insurance services group Oliver Wyman, said, “We see two big risks coming together, one is an environmental storm and the other is an economic storm, and we see them on a collision course.”

Climate change poses very significant cost to governments. As Drzik pointed out, governments are having to step in to help those impacted by extreme weather events. However, economic difficulties put constraints on government’s ability to respond.

While the costs of climate change are significant, the situation will only get worse if we continue with business as usual. According to a September 2012 study titled “Climate Vulnerability Monitor: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of A Hot Planet,” the current economic impacts of climate change are more than $1.2 trillion a year or 1.6 percent of global GDP. By 2030, the cost of climate change and air pollution combined will rise to 3.2 percent of global GDP. In the US, climate change is expected to shave a full 2 percent points off the GDP by 2030.

According to a study released by the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and UNEP Finance Initiative, global environmental damage caused by human activity in 2008 represented a monetary value of $ 6.6 trillion, which is equivalent to 11% of global GDP.

The UNEP Finance Initiative report titled “Putting a Price on Global Environmental Damage” estimates that global costs could rise to $28 trillion by 2050 or almost half of the current global GDP.

As these reports indicate, the failure to protect the environment and respond to climate change will incur much greater costs down the road. The longer we wait the greater the costs and if we are too slow to acknowledge the value of the environment, we may find that we hit irreversible tipping points from which no amount of money will enable us to recover.
Source: Global Warming is Real

The draft report was prepared by a Federal Advisory Committee known as the “National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee” (NCADAC). The report was mandated by Congress in 1990 with the passage of the Global Change Research Act, which requires that a national climate assessment be conducted every four years and the results be issued to the President and Congress. As a consequence of the 1990 legislation, the US Global Change Research Program was formed, which is an inter-governmental body involving 13 federal agencies and departments.

“Hurricane Sandy and the historic droughts, floods and heat waves happening across the country aren’t a fluke, but the result of a climate warming much faster than previously thought,” he said. “If we put off action on climate change, the costs of addressing its impacts will only rise and this extreme weather will be just the beginning. This report should serve as a wake-up call that it’s time to act.”

The 2013 draft report states that the climate is changing and this is attributable to human activities. The report provides elaborate explanations on mitigation and adaptation, as well as how to improve scientific understanding and concludes that Americans must face the necessity of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Summers are longer and hotter, and periods of extreme heat last longer than any living American has ever experienced. Winters are generally shorter and warmer. Rain comes in heavier downpours, though in many regions there are longer dry spells in between.”

The letter references drier weather, wildfires and receding sea ice and the draft report states that sea levels are expected to “rise by another 1 to 4 feet in this century”. The report further indicates that the US requires better national plans for adaptation to a changing climate.

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International Conference on Waste Management and the Environment 2012 (Event)

July 01, 2012 Add Comment Edit

On the 4th to the 6th of July in New Forest, UK, an event will take place titled the International Conference on Waste Management and the Environment. The event is organised every two years by the Wessex Institute of Technology in collaboration with other renown institutions. Waste management is becoming one of the key problems of the modern world, an issue that is intensified by the volume and complexity of waste discarded by society's domestic and industrial activities. Unfortunately, many of the practices adopted in the past were aimed at short-term solutions without sufficient regard or knowledge for long term implications on health, the environment or sustainability and this, in many cases, leads to the need to take difficult and expensive remedial action.

With our growing awareness of the detrimental environmental effects of current waste disposal, there is a significant onus of accountability for effective waste management. Better practice and safer solutions are required. Not only is there a need for more research on current disposal methods such as landfill, incineration, chemical and effluent treatment, but also on recycling, waste minimization, clean technologies, waste monitoring, public and corporate awareness, and general education.

This sixth conference follows the success of previous meetings held in Cádiz (2002), Rhodes (2004), Malta (2006), Granada (2008) and Tallinn (2010).

For more information or to register click here.

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Bill McGibben: The Planet Wreckers

June 05, 2012 Add Comment Edit

It’s been a tough few weeks for the forces of climate-change denial. First came the giant billboard with Unabomber Ted Kacynzki’s face plastered across it: “I Still Believe in Global Warming. Do You?” Sponsored by the Heartland Institute, the nerve-center of climate-change denial, it was supposed to draw attention to the fact that “the most prominent advocates of global warming aren’t scientists. They are murderers, tyrants, and madmen.” Instead it drew attention to the fact that these guys had over-reached, and with predictable consequences.

A hard-hitting campaign from a new group called Forecast the Facts persuaded many of the corporations backing Heartland to withdraw $825,000 in funding; an entire wing of the Institute, devoted to helping the insurance industry, calved off to form its own nonprofit. Normally friendly politicians like Wisconsin Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner announced that they would boycott the group’s annual conference unless the billboard campaign was ended.

Which it was, before the billboards with Charles Manson and Osama bin Laden could be unveiled, but not before the damage was done: Sensenbrenner spoke at last month’s conclave, but attendance was way down at the annual gathering, and Heartland leaders announced that there were no plans for another of the yearly fests. Heartland’s head, Joe Bast, complained that his side had been subjected to the most “uncivil name-calling and disparagement you can possibly imagine from climate alarmists,” which was both a little rich—after all, he was the guy with the mass-murderer billboards—but also a little pathetic. A whimper had replaced the characteristically confident snarl of the American right.

That pugnaciousness may return: Mr. Bast said last week that he was finding new corporate sponsors, that he was building a new small-donor base that was “Greenpeace-proof,” and that in any event the billboard had been a fine idea anyway because it had “generated more than $5 million in earned media so far.” (That’s a bit like saying that for a successful White House bid John Edwards should have had more mistresses and babies because look at all the publicity!) Whatever the final outcome, it’s worth noting that, in a larger sense, Bast is correct: this tiny collection of deniers has actually been incredibly effective over the past years.

The best of them—and that would be Marc Morano, proprietor of the website Climate Depot, and Anthony Watts, of the website Watts Up With That—have fought with remarkable tenacity to stall and delay the inevitable recognition that we’re in serious trouble. They’ve never had much to work with. Only one even remotely serious scientist remains in the denialist camp. That’s MIT’s Richard Lindzen, who has been arguing for years that while global warming is real it won’t be as severe as almost all his colleagues believe.

But as a long article in the New York Times detailed last month, the credibility of that sole dissenter is basically shot. Even the peer reviewers he approved for his last paper told the National Academy of Sciences that it didn’t merit publication. (It ended up in a “little-known Korean journal.”)

Deprived of actual publishing scientists to work with, they’ve relied on a small troupe of vaudeville performers, featuring them endlessly on their websites. Lord Christopher Monckton, for instance, an English peer (who has been officially warned by the House of Lords to stop saying he’s a member) began his speech at Heartland’s annual conference by boasting that he had “no scientific qualification” to challenge the science of climate change.

He’s proved the truth of that claim many times, beginning in his pre-climate-change career when he explained to readers of the American Spectator that “there is only one way to stop AIDS. That is to screen the entire population regularly and to quarantine all carriers of the disease for life.” His personal contribution to the genre of climate-change mass-murderer analogies has been to explain that a group of young climate-change activists who tried to take over a stage where he was speaking were “Hitler Youth.”

Or consider Lubos Motl, a Czech theoretical physicist who has never published on climate change but nonetheless keeps up a steady stream of web assaults on scientists he calls “fringe kibitzers who want to become universal dictators” who should “be thinking how to undo your inexcusable behavior so that you will spend as little time in prison as possible.” On the crazed killer front, Motl said that, while he supported many of Norwegian gunman Anders Breivik’s ideas, it was hard to justify gunning down all those children—still, it did demonstrate that “right-wing people… may even be more efficient while killing—and the probable reason is that Breivik may have a higher IQ than your garden variety left-wing or Islamic terrorist.”

If your urge is to laugh at this kind of clown show, the joke’s on you—because it’s worked. I mean, James Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who has emerged victorious in every Senate fight on climate change, cites Motl regularly; Monckton has testified four times before the U.S. Congress.

Morano, one of the most skilled political operatives of the age—he “broke the story” that became the Swiftboat attack on John Kerry—plays rough: he regularly publishes the email addresses of those he pillories, for instance, so his readers can pile on the abuse. But he plays smart, too. He’s a favorite of Fox News and of Rush Limbaugh, and he and his colleagues have used those platforms to make it anathema for any Republican politician to publicly express a belief in the reality of climate change.

Take Newt Gingrich, for instance. Only four years ago he was willing to sit on a love seat with Nancy Pelosi and film a commercial for a campaign headed by Al Gore. In it he explained that he agreed with the California Congresswoman and then-Speaker of the House that the time had come for action on climate. This fall, hounded by Morano, he was forced to recant again and again. His dalliance with the truth about carbon dioxide hurt him more among the Republican faithful than any other single “failing.” Even Mitt Romney, who as governor of Massachusetts actually took some action on global warming, has now been reduced to claiming that scientists may tell us “in fifty years” if we have anything to fear.

In other words, a small cadre of fervent climate-change deniers took control of the Republican party on the issue. This, in turn, has meant control of Congress, and since the president can’t sign a treaty by himself, it’s effectively meant stifling any significant international progress on global warming. Put another way, the various right wing billionaires and energy companies who have bankrolled this stuff have gotten their money’s worth many times over.

One reason the denialists’ campaign has been so successful, of course, is that they’ve also managed to intimidate the other side. There aren’t many senators who rise with the passion or frequency of James Inhofe but to warn of the dangers of ignoring what’s really happening on our embattled planet.

It’s a striking barometer of intimidation that Barack Obama, who has a clear enough understanding of climate change and its dangers, has barely mentioned the subject for four years. He did show a little leg to his liberal base in Rolling Stone earlier this spring by hinting that climate change could become a campaign issue. Last week, however, he passed on his best chance to make good on that promise when he gave a long speech on energy at an Iowa wind turbine factory without even mentioning global warming. Because the GOP has been so unreasonable, the President clearly feels he can take the environmental vote by staying silent, which means the odds that he’ll do anything dramatic in the next four years grow steadily smaller.

On the brighter side, not everyone has been intimidated. In fact, a spirited counter-movement has arisen in recent years. The very same weekend that Heartland tried to put the Unabomber’s face on global warming, 350.org conducted thousands of rallies around the globe to show who climate change really affects. In a year of mobilization, we also managed to block—at least temporarily—the Keystone pipeline that would have brought the dirtiest of dirty energy, tar-sands oil, from the Canadian province of Alberta to the Gulf Coast. In the meantime, our Canadian allies are fighting hard to block a similar pipeline that would bring those tar sands to the Pacific for export.

Similarly, in just the last few weeks, hundreds of thousands have signed on to demand an end to fossil-fuel subsidies. And new polling data already show more Americans worried about our changing climate, because they’ve noticed the freakish weather of the last few years and drawn the obvious conclusion.

But damn, it’s a hard fight, up against a ton of money and a ton of inertia. Eventually, climate denial will “lose,” because physics and chemistry are not intimidated even by Lord Monckton. But timing is everything—if he and his ilk, a crew of certified planet wreckers, delay action past the point where it can do much good, they’ll be able to claim one of the epic victories in political history—one that will last for geological epochs.
___________________________________

Bill McKibben is Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, founder of the global climate campaign 350.org, a TomDispatch regular, and the author, most recently, of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet.

Source: EcoWatch

May 05, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Lancaster, USA -- Students Hold Dots Amidst Tornado Wreckage

Mad River, Vermont -- Wreckage from Hurricane Irene

Marianna, United States -- Showing the Drought Caused by Climate Change

Strong Body of Evidence for a Changing Climate

May 05, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Each year the temperature is getting warmer and the weather is getting more extreme. Storms are more frequent and more ferocious including increasing numbers of deadly tornadoes and floods. The extreme heat is also causing droughts, forest fires and insect infestations. Extreme weather in on the increase in places where they are habitually prone, but unusual climatic events are also showing up in unexpected places. Even in places that have not been hit with extreme weather there is evidence of climate change. Here is a quick review of some of the research evidence indicating that climate change is driving the increased number of extreme weather events.

Here are some articles that make the connection between extreme weather and climate change:

Extreme Weather Makes a Convincing Case for Climate Change
Hurricane Irene and the Staggering Costs of Climate Change
Deadly Tornadoes in Massachusetts
Tornadoes and Floods Underscore the Costs of Global Warming

Here are some posts from THE GREEN MARKET on extreme weather and climate:

Extreme Weather and the Costs of Climate Change
State of the Climate Global Analysis Nov 2011
Floods in the Philipines Underscore the Deadly Toll from Climate Change
The Costs of Global Warming
Science and Pernicious Ignorance of Climate Change Denial
The Effects of Global Warming
Top Four Climate Studies of 2011
State of the Climate Global Analysis Nov 2011
Debunking CO2 Myths and The Science of Climate Change
Primer on CO2 and other GHGs

Here is some of the information relating extreme weather and climate change from 350.org:

Bill McKibben on Connect the Dots Events
Interactive Map Reveals Warmer Spring
100 Global Activities for Climate Impacts Day
The World “Connects the Dots” Between Extreme Weather & Climate Change
Business and Climate Impacts Day
Bill McKibben on Connect the Dots
Connect the Dots End Fossil Fuel
Extreme Weather
McKibben Attributes Extreme Weather Events to Climate Change
24 Hours of Reality

Bill McKibben on Connect the Dots Events

May 05, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Today is Climate Impacts Day and as 350.org founder Bill McKibben said earlier today, "5/5 is no normal day — it’s the day that people around the world are coming together to Connect the Dots about climate change."

In an early morning e-mail Bill recounted what he has heard about the first action that took place in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. For this Connect the Dots event people dove down for an underwater rally on their threatened coral reef.

Bill describes this event as, "a giant seminar on the topic: What does global warming look like in its early stages? And if we can put a human face on climate change it will help immeasurably in all our campaigning in the years ahead. You’re that human face."

If you are looking for an event near you, click here for the Climate Impacts Day event locator. The site will be scrolling the uploaded images of the events taking place around the planet.

You can also upload your photos from your events to ClimateDots.org! There are full instructions on the website, but the basic idea is to attach your single best photo and email it to photos@350.org — and make sure to put the location of the photo in the subject line and the the story behind the photo as the text of the email.

Interactive Map Reveals Warmer Spring

May 05, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Here is an interactive map that enables you to see exactly how the weather has gotten warmer in the US this spring. Eastern North America has had an early spring with record breaking temperatures stretching for thousands of kilometers. When we put the climate data together we see that over the past several decades, with the exception of the Southeast, spring weather has indeed been arriving earlier.

In the interactive below, you can see how much earlier spring has arrived state-by-state, measured by the date of first leaf. As you hover over any state, it’ll display two boxes—a gray box that represents the day spring used to arrive (based on the 1951-1980 average) and a colored box that represents how much earlier spring has arrived (based on the 1981-2010 average).

Nationwide, the date of “first leaf” has clearly shifted—arriving roughly 4 days earlier now on March 17 (1981-2010 average) from March 20 (1951-1980 average). This shift affects all sorts of biological processes that are triggered by warmer temperatures—not just flowering, but animal migration and giving birth and the shedding of winter coats and the emergence from cocoons.

An earlier spring may disrupt the intricate natural balance between the tens of thousands of species that depend on each other for food, reproduction and ultimately, survival.

The data behind the map comes from an index for the onset of spring developed by Mark D. Schwartz (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and USA National Phenology Network colleagues. The index, based on temperature variables measured at individual weather stations, estimates the first day that leaves appear on plants in a given state. To come up with a US estimate as a whole, they took the average change across 716 weather stations spread across the lower 48 states.

To use the map’s interactive features, click here.

Related Posts
Bill McKibben on Connect the Dots Events
100 Global Activities for Climate Impacts Day
The World “Connects the Dots” Between Extreme Weather & Climate Change
Business and Climate Impacts Day
Bill McKibben on Connect the Dots
Connect the Dots End Fossil Fuel
Extreme Weather
McKibben Attributes Extreme Weather Events to Climate Change
Extreme Weather Makes a Convincing Case for Climate Change
Hurricane Irene and the Staggering Costs of Climate Change
Deadly Tornadoes in Massachusetts
Tornadoes and Floods Underscore the Costs of Global Warming
Extreme Weather and the Costs of Climate Change
State of the Climate Global Analysis Nov 2011
Floods in the Philipines Underscore the Deadly Toll from Climate Change
The Costs of Global Warming
24 Hours of Reality
Science and Pernicious Ignorance of Climate Change Denial
Canada’s White Christmas Isn’t So White Anymore
Blumenauer Video: 'The Jihad Against Climate Change Continues'
Video: Demand a Green Planet for Yourself and for Your Children
The Effects of Global Warming

100 Global Activities for Climate Impacts Day

May 05, 2012 Add Comment Edit

May 5th, 2012 (5/5/12) is a 350.org event known as Climate Impacts Day. This is an opportunity for people to "connect the dots" between extreme weather and climate change. Activities are taking place all around the world to show the various ways that climate change has impacted their lives. Here is a summary of more than one hundred activities from Africa, the Pacific, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and North America:

Africa

· On the outskirts of Bujumbura, Burundi, students will gather with victims of recent flooding in the village of Gatumba that destroyed over 500 homes this March.

· In Northeastern Kenya, representatives from three districts will gather in Garissa to highlight how the ongoing drought in Eastern Africa has impoverished their communities and threatened their survival. `

· In Dakar, Senegal, students will hold dots on the beach to highlight the threat of sea level rise and storm surges to their city.

· In the Seychelles, people are organizing a moonlight “mutia,” a traditional dance that is often used as social protest, to lament the impacts of rising seas on their islands.

· In Contonou, Benin, organizers will host a panel discussion on the failure of rich countries to provide appropriate climate financing for adaptation and mitigation efforts and point to a number of innovative sources of financing.

· In Livingston, Zambia, a local drama group is hosting a play to educate the community about the impacts of climate change and local solutions.

· In Mzuzu, Malawi, the Northern Youth Network will march through the city with posters showing how young people were affected by flooding in the Karonga District.

· In Lome, Togo, the Young Greens Togo organization will host a climate dot event focused on the problem of erosion caused by increased rainfall and flooding.

Pacific

· In Palau, organizers will hold dots in taro patches that suffered from saltwater inundation and at coral reefs that are suffering from the warming and acidification of the oceans.

· In Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, 350.org supporters will be amongst those first to see the sunrise on May 5 and greet the new day with large dots held to the sky. Another team will dive underwater to dying coral reefs to take a photo with a banner that reads, “Connect the Dots: Your Carbon Emissions are Killing our Coral.”

· In Nauru, citizens will hang a giant dot banner on the island’s desalination plant to represent how the community struggles to generate enough water during an increasing number of droughts.

· In American Samoa, the 350 Environment Club will run a “Connect the Dots” billboard design competition across every high school on the island. The five winners will have their work displayed on billboards around the island.

· In Melbourne, Australia, activists will roll a giant dot around downtown and stop at offices and buildings connected to companies, banks and institutions driving “extreme energy,” like tar sands and coal seam gas.

· In Sydney, Australia organizers will unfurl a giant dot banner on the banks of the Parramatta River which is increasingly eroded from extreme weather events.

· On the shorefront in Aukland, New Zealand, activists will build a Human Wall of Dots representing the height of the sea-wall that will be necessary to prevent the inundation of the city by rising oceans.

· In Adelaide, Australia, 350.org supporters are hosting a “Dry Creek Regatta” in the Gawler and South Australian rivers to raise awareness about climate change and the threat of drought.

· In Hobart, Australia, people are gathering to form a giant dot on the eroded area in front of properties on Roches beach to show the impact of climate change on the community.

· In Wellington, New Zealand, people will hold dots in places around town that will be affected by sea level rise.

· In Rotorua, New Zealand, organizers will use old painted 33 LPs to highlight local or global extreme weather events and their connection to climate change.

· In Golden Bay, New Zealand, organizers will form a dot at the site of a house that was buried by a landslide from a “Once in 500 Year” Rain event last year.

Asia

· In Pakistan, the Pakistan Sustainability Network will host street theater in regions affected by the terrible flooding in 2010 and unfurl dot banners in communities still struggling to recover.

· On the beach in Orissa, India, famous artist Sundersan Pattanaik will create a sand sculpture that depicts the extreme heat facing India and connect the dots to climate disruption.

· In Delhi, India, students will tour government ministries with dots representing the different ways climate is impacting India’s agriculture, economy, environment, and health.

· In Srinigar, India, young people will hold a giant dot on the banks of the river Jhelum which has dried to ⅓ of its flow over the years due to shrinking glaciers.

· In Kathmandu, Nepal, grandparents and their grandchildren will create a mandala that depicts the different ways that climate change is impacting Nepal.

· In Ayutthaya, Thailand Buddhist monks will hold dots outside the Ayutthaya temple that was damaged by last year’s epic floods.

· In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, organizers will hold dots on the banks of the Saigon River which is flooding more and more often due to higher tides and heavy rains.

· In Daegu, South Korea, students will gather with bags of rice and umbrellas to connect the dots between climate change, heavy rains, and the damage caused to South Korea’s rice crop.

· In Dumaguete City, Philippines, organizers will host a climate dots event to raise awareness about the connection between global warming and typhoons. Last year’s typhoon Sendong was the strongest typhoon ever recorded in Philippine history, impacting over 63,000 families.

· In Jakarta, Indonesia, 350.org volunteers will arrange photos of how climate change is impacting indonesia into a giant “350” and host a candlelit vigil.

· In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, will create a dot in the city to highlight how climate change is leading to desertification in the country.

· In Singapore, organizers are hosting a 3 hour interactive workshop on how climate change is impacting Singapore and taking a giant dot photo.

Middle East & Central Asia

· In Iran, students will hike to the top of Mt. Tochal outside of Tehran to observe how polluted the city has become and unfurl a dot banner at the top.

· In Amman, Jordan, Friends of the Earth Middle East will be forming a climate dot on the shores of the Dead Sea to draw attention to how drought due to climate change has been shrinking the sea.

· In Herzliya, Israel, people will form a dot on the beach to stand in solidarity with island nations and coastal communities around the world that are feeling the impacts of climate change.

· In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 350.org supporters are organizing a two-day exhibit of art and photography on how climate change is currently impacting Kygrzstan and surrounding areas.

· In Beirut, Lebanon, activists will converge on one of city’s busiest streets with umbrellas to form a giant dot.

· In Tripoli, Libya the Environmental Engineering and Sciences center at the Libyan National Academy will host a public presentation to educate the community, politicians, and media on how climate change threatens Libya.

· In Kutaisi, Georgia, volunteers are organizing a “Climate Photo Studio” in the city’s central park to create images that show how climate change is impacting their country.

· In Salalah, Oman, students are inviting their elders to share accounts about how climate and weather events differ today from times past.

· In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, students are creating dots to raise awareness about the many sand storms, wind storms, and flash floods that have been a common phenomenon during the past decade.

· In Garm, Tajikistan, staff with Cooperation for Development will conduct meetings with farmers, women, and youth on adapting traditional agriculture to the changing climate and take climate dot photos with farmers in their fields.

Latin America

· In Rio Branco, Brazil, the Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental de Amazonia is organizing an entire day dedicated to connecting the dots between the terrible flooding that has impacted the region and the broader climate crisis.

· In Araranguá, Brazil, people are hosting an event to examine the ways civil society and government have worked together to recover from 2004’s Hurricane Catarina, the first tropical cyclone to ever hit shore in Brazil.

· In São Paulo, Brazil, activists are staging a big photo opp to connect the dots between climate change and deforestation to pressure President Dilma to veto the new forest code which is weak and full of loopholes for logging.

· In the Região Serrana area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, members of CARE Brazil and local 350.org supporters will create a climate dot in an area where heavy rains created landslides that led to death of many community members in the region.

· Outside of La Paz, Bolivia, members of Reacción Climática will create a climate dot on a retreating glacier to highlight the impact melting glaciers are having on the water supply to cities like La Paz and El Alto.

· In Monterrey, Mexico, people will host a climate dot event on the banks of the Santa Catharina river which were flooded out during 2010’s Hurricane Alex, an event that caused $1.8 billion in damage and Nuevo León governor Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz described as “the worst weather phenomenon in [the state’s] history.”

· In Carhuas, Peru, high school students from the Callejón de Huaylas region will form a dot in the main plaza of the town to show solidarity with farmers whose crops are being affected by the lack of rain.

·In Cartagena, Colombia, 350.org volunteers will collect garbage and plant trees along a canal that is increasingly clogged and flooding due to heavier rains. Their dot will be created with the garbage that they collect.

· In the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica, climate change ecologist Alan Pounds will give a lecture on how climate change is changing rainfall patterns in the forest and attendees will come up with 350 ways to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Europe

· In Copenhagen, Denmark, activists will unfurl a dot outside of the Canadian Embassy to connect the high carbon emissions from the Canadian tar sands to the global climate crisis.

· In Chamonix, France, climbers will create a huge red dot on one of the melting Mont Blanc glaciers.

· In Kiel, Germany, volunteers will invite pedestrians leaving one of the city’s subway stations to put their fingerprint on “Connect the Dots” banner as a pledge to stand in solidarity with victims of climate change.

· In Jaca, Spain, climbers will create a dot out of melting snow from the Pyrenees.

· In Lund, Sweden, students are collecting used and second hand bikes and forming them into a solutions dot before shipping them to Cape Town, South Africa.

· In London, United Kingdom, the London Occupy Movement will host a creative “twist” on the game of Twister, with participants using their bodies to connect the dots between extreme weather events and climate change — a large “dot” photo opp will also be taken in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

· In Kiev, Ukraine, activists will parade through the streets with dots representing the threat of climate change to different regions of Ukraine.

· In Riederalp, Switzerland, climbers will unfurl a giant dot on the Aletsch glacier, a UNESCO heritage site that is currently melting due to climate change.

· In Kydymkar City, Russia, indigenous people of Komi-Permyak will perform traditional shamanic rituals to find the “Hub of the Universe,” a sacred spiritual place connected with the state of the environment, and pray for an end to the wildfires that have devastated Russia in previous years.

North America

Canada

· In Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Citizens Climate Lobby is hosting a “Swimming for Survival” climate dots event to highlight the threat of rising seas to their communities.

· In Hamilton, Ontario people will gather with umbrellas to form a giant dot and highlight the 17 extreme rainstorms that have caused flooding in the city over the last eight years.

· In Nelson, British Columbia, organizers will hold dots in a forest decimated by the pine bark beetle that has been spreading across North America due to warmer temperatures.

· In Ottawa, Ontario, people will hold dots in the Rideau Canal, the world’s longest skating rink. In the 1970s, the canal was open for skating an average 70 days a year, but in the last decade the average number of skating days has shrunk to 55. Last year, the canal was open for only 24 days.

· In Winnipeg, Manitoba, organizers will host a community feast to welcome First Nations people and their supporters as they travel on a Freedom Train to challenge the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and connect the dots between tar sands exploitation and climate change.

United States

· In Nashville, Tennessee high school students will gather on their football field that was submerged in 2011’s historic floods.

· In San Francisco, California, aerial artist Daniel Dancer and the Center for Biological Diversity will work with hundreds of people to form a giant, moving blue dot to represent the threat of sea level rise and ocean acidification to San Francisco and other coastal communities.

· In Cincinnati, Ohio, dozens of people will join an flashmob to make a giant dot with umbrellas to represent the historic rainfalls in Ohio — 2011 was the wettest year on the record in the state.

· At the Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, firefighters will take “dots” photo in a forest burned during the devastating fires that swept the southwest in the summer of 2011. The company will also be installing solar panels on their firehouse to do their part to combat climate change.

· In Aspen, Colorado, a “Climate Dots” event will connect climate change with pine beetle infestations, wildfires, and an increasing lack of snow with “The Climate Challenge Snowless Ski Race”, attendees wearing white to fill in for the missing snow, and a film screening of “Chasing Ice”.

· In Waitsfield, Vermont, 350.org founder and Vermont native Bill McKibben will join hundreds of people to connect the terrible flooding caused by 2011’s Hurricane Irene to the climate crisis.

· In Louisville, Kentucky, activists attired in dot themed outfits and derby hats will host an event outside of the Kentucky Derby to educate the public about climate change with horse names like “Florida Under,” “Missing Ice Cap,” “Crappy Crops” and more.

· In California’s Sierra Mountains, climbers will unfurl a giant banner on the Dana Glacier that reads “I’m Melting!”

· In Pensacola, Florida, activists will gather with dots on the bay front to recognize how climate disruption is already impacting coastal communities in Florida.

· In Miami, Florida, organizers will march with blue dots from Miami’s famous beach front to the spot where seas will rise by 2030 if global warming is left unchecked (about the second story of most “beachfront” real estate).

· In Honolulu, Hawaii, organizers will bring their dots to Waikiki’s beach front to raise awareness about the threat of sea level rise to the island.

· In Davenport, Iowa, students at Iowa State University will hold dots at a rally in front of the campus power plant to show how it connects to human health, climate change and other environmental challenges.

· In Winfield, Kansas, 350.org volunteers are hosting an event called, “Oz–Are we there yet?” where they will paint windows downtown with a state map and “dot” the location of recent tornadoes across Kansas.

· In Boston, Massachusetts, the Boston Climate Action Network will mark the 100 year anniversary of Fenway Park by organizing an event at the “Wake Up the Earth” festival in Jamaica Plain that focuses on how climate change is impacting important Red Sox locations: the Caribbean Islands (home to many top players), the team’s training camp in southern Florida, and at home in Boston.

· In Boston, Massachusetts, volunteers with the fictional “Metro Boston Climate Defense” agency will distribute “Change in Service” flyers to subway riders showing ferries replacing subway lines where flooding is anticipated due to rising sea levels.

· In Wayland, Massachusetts, citizens will gather with dots at their local library that was inundated by a major flood in the spring of 2010.

· In Belfast, Maine, volunteers will raise awareness about climate impacts by putting up Burma Shave style signs along a local highway that read, “DEER TICKS BITE/THEY MAKE US SICK/INVADING MAINE/TOO DARN QUICK/ CLIMATE CHANGE.”

· In Ada, Michigan, mycologists will organize a “mushroom count” to compare the number of spring mushrooms normally found in May to the number of summer mushrooms that are appearing sooner due to climate change.

· In Charlotte, North Carolina, activists will unfurl a giant dot banner in front of Bank of America headquarters that reads, “Climate Change Starts Here. BoA, Stop Funding Coal.” The event kicks off a week of action against the Bank for funding dirty energy projects.

· In Weirs Beach, New Hampshire, locals are getting out their umbrellas to form a dot to commemorate the impact of Hurricane Irene on the state and call for climate action.

· In Mahwah, New Jersey, local activists and members of the Ramapough/Lunaape Nation will hike to the proposed site of a Fracked Gas pipeline and create a “Dot” to connect the project to the broader climate crisis.

· In Sante Fe, New Mexico, people will form a giant blue dot in the drought-stricken Santa Fe River to represent the water that should be flowing there.

· In New York City, 3rd Graders at the Children’s Storefront School will be creating huge black dots with either red or green images on them showing problems (red) or solutions and things we need to protect (green) – demonstrating that all these things are linked to climate change.

· In Lower Manhattan, which sea-level rise is expected to wipe off the map, New Yorkers will hold up a giant blue dot that says “Underwater” and unfurl it in Battery Park with the Manhattan skyline behind them. Following that they’ll collect some of the water from Manhattan Island’s shores that will soon wash up to Wall Street’s doors, and dump it on the Bank of America headquarters as a reminder of what their investments in coal and oil are bringing about.

· In Saratoga Springs, New York, students at Skidmore College will be “dotting the night,” covering their campus with dots relaying extreme weather & climate related events.

· In Salem, Oregon, cyclists will bike to three different locations affected by a major flood in January 2012 to connect the dots between heavy rains and climate change.

· In Hood River, Oregon, activists will unfurl a giant red dot next to train tracks in town that increasingly see trains carrying coal to export facilities on the coast.

· In Portland, Oregon, organizers will host an umbrella decorating party to commemorate March 2012’s new all-time record for monthly rainfall with 7.89 inches.

· In Northumberland, Pennsylvania, concerned-citizens will attend a teach-in to connect the dots between fracking and climate impacts hosted by the Interfaith Sacred Earth Coalition of the Susquehanna Valley.

· In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, members of Clean Water Action will display at giant dot on the Smithfield Street Bridge to connect fracking and the climate crisis.

· In Dallas, Texas, a group of people will create dots showing the rising number of 100-degree days over the past few years and display them in a photo opp.

· In Richmond, Virginia, people will from across the commonwealth will hold a giant dot in front of Dominion Virginia Power’s headquarters to connect the dot between Dominion’s coal and the earth’s warming.

· In Virginia Beach, Virginia, activists will wade into the Atlantic Ocean for a photo-shoot featuring a big cutout of King Neptune submerged in the water — the famous statue is threatened by rising seas and storm surges.

· In Brattleboro, Vermont, that Flat Street Brew Pub will host a candlelight event to remember the impact of Hurricane Irene on the local business which had to shut its doors for 10 weeks after flooding wrecked their building.

· In Hoquiam, Washington, birders will hold dots at the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge to mark how changes in the climate are affecting bird migrations and endangering the habitats of many different species.

· In Anacortes, Washington, community members will take their dots to the gates of the Shell Oil Refinery to protest Shell’s expansion of tar sands mining and drilling in the arctic.

· In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, students at the University of Wisconsin will create bright orange dots featuring different climate impacts and place them on the stumps of trees that were cut down to make way for steam lines from the university’s power plant.

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