“This is not a partisan debate; it is a human one. Clean air and water, and a livable climate are inalienable human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is our moral obligation.”
paleBLUEdot participated in the Climate Reality Project’s 2019 “24 Hours of Reality” by presenting at the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The 24 Hours of Reality was a global conversation to advance climate awareness and action. paleBLUEdot’s presentation was one of more than 1,700 locations, as far flung as Antarctica and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef all conducting discussions on the climate crisis simultaneously around the world on November 20th.
The Indian Creek Nature Center was a superb venue for the discussion. Not only is the Nature Center a beautiful asset for the community, the building is Petal Certified under the Living Building Challenge and represents state of the art sustainability in building construction.
Climate change is a global phenomenon with local impacts. Iowa’s climate is already experiencing changes: shorter winters, fewer cold extremes, increased annual temperatures, and more heavy and extreme precipitation. These changes will continue to increase in frequency and intensity.
Current and projected climate conditions have impacts on our communities. Challenges to the resilience of Cedar Rapidso will include more intense storms, increased heavy precipitation and flooding, frequency of extreme weather, heat waves, and droughts - as well as impacts on Cedar Rapids’ most vulnerable populations.
This session focused on:
The basic science of Climate Change
Climate Change projections for Cedar Rapids
Impacts of Climate Change on Cedar Rapids
Climate Solutions iincluding:
Individual Actions
Community Actions
State Actions
Federal Actions.
Ted Redmond is a Climate Reality Leadership Corps Member. This presentation uses original content developed by paleBLUEdot as well as content developed and made available by the Climate Reality Project.
This presentation was developed as a part of the Climate Reality Project in conjunction with the Indian Creek Nature Center and may only be used, unmodified, by attendees of the session.
Slides are available for download here.