Climate Action 95 – Look to Local Climate Science Leaders

Education and Climate Information

The Frog will explore The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions by Heidi Roop in the first 100 days of 2024

The National Adaptation Forum is coming to St. Paul, Minnesota in May. When I attended the event the last time it was in St. Paul, in 2017, it was a profound experience for me. Since accepting the facts of climate change in 2006 and deciding to take action, I had been mostly focused on mitigation strategies, mostly on technology for renewable energy. Starting in 2008, I devoted energy, intellect, and effort to the insane growth in the global solar photovoltaic market, which was driven mostly by China’s desire to become the dominant global supplier of solar modules.

After 2014, business winds shifted, and I was no longer directly involved in the daily push to grow the solar PV market. Still passionate, I looked for a new focus for my interests in climate technology and sense of urgency for climate action. As part of that, I came to grips that mitigation was not enough and that we needed action and innovation to adapt to the changes already underway.

These thoughts condensed when, while searching adaptation early in 2017, I discovered the National Adaptation Forum was to be held in my hometown later that year. I took vacation that week and paid the registration out of my own pocket. For a variety of personal reasons, I was primed for the impact that my attendance at and engagement with the 2017 NAF had on me. Being on “vacation”, and not at all an expert, I listed my occupation on my nametag as “Concerned Citizen”.

Fast forwarded to a personal punchline, the 2017 National Adaptation Forum was a profound experience that motivated me to devote the time, focus, and industry you see reflected in my posts on The Frog Blog. I would love to tell y’all about it sometime.

The National Adaptation Forum was created by “a diverse group of professional adaptation practitioners from the private and public sector concerned about the need to anticipate and prepare for the impacts of climate change”. It brings together professionals from federal, state and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, scientists, and frontline community groups. It is an eclectic and compelling group of committed, motivated experts – activists, scientists, managers, leaders – trying to save what they can in the face of disastrous climate change.

At the National Adaptation Forum you can easily access real leaders as they join together to compare notes, recount successes, learn from failures, and craft new strategies as they do the real work of addressing climate change. Compared to these accessible experts, the visible voices like Greta Thunberg, Al Gore, or Michael Mann are largely intellectual constructs accessible only through social media or through their books.

You don’t have to go to meetings, or actually stray too far from your home. As Heidi points out ” you can find these leaders at universities and community colleges, extension offices, state climate offices, nongovernmental organizations, and tribal natural resources offices, to name a few”.

So start looking for the experts and leaders and engage with them. In the previous post, we talked about searching the Fifth National Climate Assessment for your region and clicking on the list of authors to find a comprehensive list of experts in our area.

As an example, the list of contributors for the Midwest includes James Noel, NOAA National Weather Service, Ohio River Forecast Center; Heidi A. Roop, University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership; Sara A. Smith, Oneida Nation and College of Menominee Nation; and Dennis P. Todey, USDA Agricultural Research Service.

The US Climate Resilience Toolkit is another useful resource. You can access state climate summaries, training courses, reports, and a tool to find experts including state climatologists, and locations and contact information for the NOAA Regional Climate Centers and the USDA Climate Hubs.

You can search for their contact information, reach out, get to know them, learn from them, and let them know you appreciate the vital work they do.

Next Up: Climate Action in 2024 – Day 96: Look to Community Leaders

Howard Creel

#rescuethatfrog
Email: rescuethatfrog@gmail.com