How has your community been impacted by climate change?

We've always dealt with them but they have become more consistent and severe.  

Feels like yesterday looking at these pictures Todd!

Yeah, I can't believe it's been almost 12 years. How long was school closed for, two weeks? 

Here in Northern Michigan, we just recorded the warmest winter on record. Our spring sports were able to start their seasons outside this week for the first time in over a decade. Typically, our lake levels run high as the snow and ice melt this time of year, but that is not the case. It will be interesting to see how that plays out with the Great Lakes this summer. Additionally, our local fruit growers are concerned that crops will start to come on too early, and then get damaged by a freeze.

During some of our warm spells in December and January, I noticed grass greening up and new fungi growing in my yard - not the norm for that time of year! Even our earthworms were utterly confused, appearing on sidewalks during the winter. I also heard of black bear sightings during times they would typically be hibernating. 

We no longer have to look too far when we consider the impact of climate change; it is, quite literally, in our backyard. Locally, the Delaware & Raritan Canal routinely spills over its banks, into the surrounding communities and riverways. Local flood mitigation efforts failed with the intensity of storms like Hurricane Ida. That storm dumped about 10 inches of water in less than 4 hours, causing rapid rising of all waterways. The impact of flash flooding, and then the resulting flooding, was monumental.  My students and colleagues still have that memory, as we continue to deal with a frequency of intense storms that have followed. However, we do look to some of the changes that individuals can take: planning for emergencies, maintaining home mitigation, neighborhood clean-ups of watersheds, etc. As Andrea Wong  and Adriane Musacchio  have mentioned, our students feel passionately about taking action, and how each step they take can help work on the bigger problem. 

One of the local middle schools had major flooding during Ida. The water was about 2' deep in the halls of a school that isn't near rivers or streams.

Gas explosions occurred with frightening frequency -- the pressure on the natural gas pipes caused them to burst, and the firefighters were unable to reach most of these fires due to the deep water surrounding the structures. I live about 10 miles from this fire & could feel the explosion.

The water was raging about 8 feet higher than where it is in this video. This county road was impassable for several days after Ida, and has closed repeatedly with "regular" (albeit more intense) storms. 

0068.PXL_20210902_120043009.mp4

When the damage is happening in our schools, it makes climate change real for our students.  It's unfortunate that it has to come to this but at least students are interested now and they certainly have a lot of questions. 

 Bryan Dibble , what an accurate and succinct picture of climate change in our state. Since I also live in Eastern Washington, I couldn't have said your description any better. 

I will only add one thing to your information. That is the ongoing saga of our dams. The Columbia and Snake Rivers, running right through eastern and southeastern Washington, and heavily dammed, are subjects of the debate on human factors upsetting nature. 

Dams create reservoirs, as you know. Those backed-up waters provide needed irrigation for farmers, recreational opportunities for water sports, and a lot of hydroelectric power. But lakes make lazy rivers which travel more slowly and warm more extensively. This is very bad for migrating cold-water salmon up and down the river. As temperature extremes get more extreme, there's more of an issue. 

For these reasons and many others, the dam debate is one of eco-political-environmental-Tribal, and local consequence. 

 I "liked" your post, Kathy Hays , but I really wanted a "sad" button instead.

Fantastic trip for your students! Great hands-on learning with connection opportunities for human geography as well as civic education!