On April 4th, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its latest report, and the message was clear: If governments and industry act now-right now!-mitigating some of the effects from global warming is still possible. But we are drawing ever nearer to the point when even that won’t be possible, and humanity will be set on a chaotic and dangerous course.
“We are at a crossroads. The decisions we make now can secure a livable future. We have the tools and know-how required to limit warming,” said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee. “I am encouraged by climate action being taken in many countries. There are policies, regulations and market instruments that are proving effective. If these are scaled up and applied more widely and equitably, they can support deep emissions reductions and stimulate innovation.”
March is Women’s History Month, March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day, and the theme for 2022 is the quote above: “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. Globally, women and girls, especially those in marginalized and impoverished communities, are feeling the effects of climate change more directly and profoundly than others. Since women are most often responsible for tending to domestic issues like food and water procurement, cooking and nutrition, collecting fuel sources and maintaining gardens, when climate disaster strikes their communities, these necessary tasks become more difficult and time consuming, leaving women farther behind in terms of education, resources and decision-making power.
Climate scientists today are pretty much unanimous in their conviction that higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cause higher temperatures. But who was the first person to discover the connection between CO2 and a warming planet?
In December, NYC became the largest city in the country to agree to phase out the use of fossil fuels in all new buildings. The New York City Council has passed a bill prohibiting natural gas hookups in new buildings, beginning next year.
It’s easy to forget how unusually hot parts of the country got over the summer- we’re looking at you, Pacific Northwest- now that it’s January and temperatures have been dropping into the teens overnight. But 2021 is the fifth warmest year ever recorded, and the past seven years have all been record-breakers when it comes to heat.
The end of the year is coming up fast, and when it does, our Matching Gift grant from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh ends as well. So now is the time to make the most impactful gift to Solar One- one that will make a huge difference in the lives of the people we serve, like K-12 students, workforce trainees and downtown residents who are more in need of public green space than ever before.