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Do a Climate Change Impact Assessment

What can you do about Climate Change TODAY? (II)

Read Part I

These are notes/a place to collect info and resources, not meant as a final product.

These are all relatively easy questions to answer once you know how to look. This assessment can be done in a couple of hours by searching online. The final version of this series will include methods for looking up all of this info.

Try to be as objective as possible when collecting this information. This is not the stage at which you’re going to start finding solutions. This is a fact-finding mission.

REGIONAL:

• Where in the world do you live?
• What’s your local weather situation/average rainfall/average temperatures? What will happen if those are more extreme by a factor of ten? What about a factor of one hundred?
• Are you near water that could rise due to either flooding or sea level rise?
• Are you in an area prone to fire? If so, how would you evacuate/shelter from it?
• As the atmosphere warms up, it holds more water. Will this mean more or less precipitation for you?
• What plants/animals/insects live in nearby unpopulated areas? How will temperature extremes hurt them? Are any species from nearby biomes going to move in? Are any invasive species edible/useful?

LOCAL:

• What city/town/municipality do you live in? Who lived there before you?
• What is your municipal water source? Does it depend on snowpack? Rainfall? Rivers/lakes/reservoirs? How will climate breakdown impact your water supply?
• What is your municipal energy source? Does it depend on snowpack? Rainfall? Rivers? (Hydro) Or is it solar? Fossil fuels? Wind? Other? How will climate breakdown impact your energy supply?
• Where do you get your food? What would happen if 1/4 of the fresh food vanished from your local food source? What about 1/2? 3/4?
• What direction are prevailing winds? What might blow in from that area (precipitation? Fire? Insects?)?

LIVING SPACE:

• Do you live in a house/condo/apartment/vehicle/unhoused? Are you in an urban/suburban/rural area?
• What’s the elevation of your living space? What is up-slope? What is down-slope? Even if you don’t think you’re at risk, what would happen if it rained hard enough to cause mudslides? Flooding?
• Is your living space only comfortable because of air conditioning/heat?
• What’s the soil like around you? Soil test/consistency? Does water sink into the soil, pool, or flow over the landscape?
• Is your living space insulated properly? How much would it cost to do so, if not?
• Do you have the space/knowledge to produce any food via gardening/husbandry/foraging? If not, who can you depend on for it?
• How/where do you currently store your food?
• How much light does your living space get inside? Outside?
• Who is your closest trustworthy neighbor? Do they have plans for a climate breakdown? Do any of your neighbors need help/assistance with basic needs?
• How many boardgames/books/art and craft supplies, musical instruments, non-digital forms of entertainment do you have?

Continue in Part 3