Wavering Local Weather Puts Climate Change Questions to the Forefront
As we roll into the fall and near winter month of November, the Hudson Valley has noticed all the seasonal changes but the temperature. There has been a mix of warm and cooler weather these past few months that have people talking — talking about climate change.
“I think a lot of people are sort of more and more encountering the issues involved with climate change and the threats that we’re seeing. And I think a lot of people are sort of more and more encountering the issues involved with climate change, whether they recognize it as climate change or not,” said Alex Wolf, a conservation scientist at Scenic Hudson. “A lot of people more and more recognize that climate change really is having an impact on us locally in their lives.”
The biggest worries in regards to climate change in New York are the increased temperature, extreme precipitation, and sea-level rise, especially in the Hudson Valley as a riverside area.
According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEP), since 1900, the sea level in the lower Hudson has risen 15 inches and scientists predict another four to 10 inches of rising by the 2020s and nine to 27 inches by mid-century. In the Dutchess County area, annual precipitation will increase anywhere from five to 15 percent by the 2080s and the total annual precipitation will increase between 53.5 inches to 61.5 inches.
“Percipitation — too much and too little — is a big concern and what that ties into which is drinking water, but then also flooded roads. We also have a lot of tributaries, which there are of community assets and benefits, but then they become a risk,” said Michelle Gluck, who is an environmental resource educator at the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE).
In New York, the average temperature has risen about 0.6 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, and winter warming going above 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. These changes in weather also heavily affect the supplies of food and water, as it can make it difficult to grow food in the area, such as apple orchards, Wolf mentioned.
“We’re seeing these sort of supercharged atmospheric conditions where evaporation is happening at a much greater level and so you have a lot more moisture in the atmosphere. So when it rains, it can rain a lot more,” said Wolf.
Addressing climate change focuses on two things: mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation aims to slow down climate change while adaptation is more on a local scale, focusing on being resilient to climate change. Both Scenic Hudson and the CCE continue to work on projects to help people understand the problems and dangers that need to be addressed.
“Oh we are doing a lot,” said environment and energy resource educator at CCE Danielle Salisbury.
Salisbury and Gluck explained that the CCE works with local municipalities in the area on completing adaptation projects mostly based on the climate-smart communities program, which is a statewide program that provides guidance for local governments to follow to help mitigate and adapt to climate change. These adaptation projects typically work with local governments examining local municipalities’ plans and ordinances to see how prepared they are for climate change.
Scenic Hudson works to stop the development of more fossil fuel infrastructure. Recently, the organization was a part of a coalition that stopped the DEC from issuing a permit to upgrade the gas-fired power plants in Newburgh, NY. This would have created a large amount of emission locally, which therefore would have impacted local citizens’ air quality, Wolf explained.
While these organizations are doing their part, they mentioned it’s important we do our own as well. Wolf, Salisbury, and Gluck all said the most impactful effort is bringing awareness to others and local officials, and educating ourselves. In other words, “lead by example,” Salisbury said.
“Make your own plug like ‘yeah I compost’ and then somebody who has maybe been thinking about composting but hasn’t started doing it. They ask you some questions and you can in your own way encourage them to do those actions,” said Salisbury.
Wolf mentioned that different actions can be taken at different levels of government, but all levels are needed to make a real difference in climate change. “We need to engage with our elected officials to get collective action going as much as possible,” he added.
Climate change can tend to go over people’s heads when thinking about it globally as a big idea, Gluck explained. However, when relating it to health and wellness, this puts the issue more at the front of people’s minds.
“Health and wellness — that’s definitely a priority of people. So when you make the connection…those heat waves we have this summer — that’s climate change,” said Gluck. “They might have just been thinking like ‘oh it’s so warm’ or ‘that was difficult.’ That was challenging if they didn’t have AC running. That was their health at risk, but they might not have made that connection of why it’s happening.”
Gluck and Salisbury emphasized that it’s important to find common ground with audiences and stray away from climate change being an “environmentalist only type” issue.
“It’s really for everyone to think about,” said Gluck.
