Actions Around the Home
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
In the first `100 days of 2024 we will explore 100 climate solutions that may “empower you to evaluate, engage, and act” to address on-going climate change as an individual on your terms.
If you are a gardener you know the climate is changing. The US Department of Agriculture knows it, and in response have highlighted the changing climate by revising the plant hardiness zones, which are based on average annual minimum temperatures in a region. You can explore your region in the interactive map.
My area has been revised from the Zone 4b (-25 to -20°F) in 2012 to Zone 5a (-20 to -15°F) today. As the world warms, the temperature is driving the changes in the types of plants that will thrive in your gardens. You may need to adapt and say goodbye to some of your favorites. While the changes might open up new opportunities for plant diversity, invasive species are taking hold in new areas.
When we first moved here in the early 90s, I wanted to plant boxwoods which are a fragrant memory from my time in Maryland and Virginia. We were told they would not grow here. Fast forward to a couple of years ago and our three boxwood shrubs are thriving in our front garden. Thank you climate change!
It is the trees that may suffer the most profound changes. A study by the USDA suggests that 70 percent of tree species studied are showing tree range migration. Do you like spruce and firs? They may disappear into the north. Economically important trees like sugar maples may be gone as well. Already under stress with drought and pests, whole forests may be lost.
“Although people’s worries about global climate change most often focus on things like summer heat, drought, flooding, rising sea levels, and polar bears, there’s another big worry that isn’t so well publicized – the effects of all these changes on plants, particularly trees. People and animals can walk, run, swim, or fly to a more suitable habitat, but trees can’t escape the heat.”
Dennis May, Program Director,
Forest Inventory and Analysis, St. Paul
This is nature responding to humans changing the planet. The study of the timing and cycles in the natural world is called phenology. This is an exciting and now critical area of study, data collection, and analysis that support natural resource management.
This warm winter has been weird in the upper Midwest. Has spring already started? What do you use as an indicator? In warm weather the temptation is to get out and do yardwork and prep gardens. When do you do that this year?
The USA National Phenology Network is tracking spring and you can help! They would like for you to become an observer. You can sign up for Nature’s Notebook, where you choose a location and the plants and/or animals you wish to observe, and then make weekly observations to record seasonal changes. You can be a solo observer or look for a local community to join.
And there are specific campaigns if you are passionate about certain plants or animals. You can participate in regional campaigns to answer specific questions and have a first glimpse at what is really going on. My favorite is Nectar Collectors. There are many others like Pollen Trackers, Desert Refuge, Flowers for Bats, and Mayfly Watch.
And as for your own lawn and gardens, please recognize that gasoline powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers are the dirtiest tools in the shed. Look closely. Is there a catalytic converter on the exhaust? Not likely. Not only are you subjecting yourself, family, and neighborhood to the health impacts of NOx and fine particulate pollution, but they are noisy! And tough on the climate: the unconstrained use of fossil fuel powered lawn equipment is estimated to have emitted more than 30 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2020.
So go electric. Model the action and become an advocate. Check in on your local parks department and other yard services providers and convince them to make the switch. And consider petitioning your elected officials to enact replacement incentives or phased ban on the use of the equipment. California is leading the way, with some locations requiring this type of equipment to be zero emission this year.
And while you are doing all that, join the new movement to Make America Rake Again! Or better yet enthusiastically embraced the approach of Leave the Leaves! Just leave all of it and let it be what it wants to be – habitat for invertebrates and pollinators over winter. And model the behavior for your neighborhood by proudly declaring your intention and displaying a sign like the one available from The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
Next Up: Climate Action in 2024 – Day 62: Reduce Waste and Recycle
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