Answering the Climate Call
Learning to thrive in a changing world
By Mickey Snowdon, Communications Liaison
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2018 marked the fourth hottest year on record worldwide. We’ve already warmed our planet by a degree since the Industrial Revolution, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that, at the rate we’re going, humans could reach a 1.5°C temperature increase by 2030.
To say that our climate is changing is an understatement, at best.
At The Collider, our mission is to help everyone mitigate, adapt, and thrive in an increasingly uncertain environment. Our member businesses, entrepreneurs, and organizations understand what the science is telling us, and they’re finding unique and engaging ways to communicate that information to the rest of the world.
Collectively, as a species, we need to address not just the sources of climate change, but how we can build resilience together.
What is climate resilience anyway? The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit defines it as:
“The capacity of a community, business, or natural environment to prevent, withstand, respond to, and recover from a disruption.”
Resilience is focused primarily on four categories: people, infrastructure, ecosystems, and economy. All four of these rely on one another to function, and The Collider has members that focus specifically on each of these sectors.
An integral aspect of building resilience for any community is its ability to adapt. The Toolkit defines adaptation as:
“The process of adjusting to new (climate) conditions in order to reduce risks to valued assets.”
For a community to be resilient, it must unite under the common goal of not just surviving, but thriving. For a community to be adaptable, it must be able to bend without breaking. Oftentimes, this means agreeing to change and utilizing one another’s strengths, whether in the private, public, or civil sectors.
From crop yield predictions to interactive climate models, The Collider’s innovative network of members is working to pair ideas with technology and data to contribute to both a thriving environment and economy in Asheville, and beyond. We believe that together we can make the places we call home more livable for all.
Stay tuned for more Collider-related news, opinion, and technology.
