Cornell Climate Stewards

Uncontrolled Climate Change could result in disaster for our kids. Will we do something? Read the USA Today Article.

By Mike Hoffmann, Opinion Contributor, USA Today, Aug. 31, 2018

There is a one in 20 chance climate change could end in disaster by 2050. This is too great a risk. When will we start to protect our children?

Would you put your child or grandchild on a plane that has a one chance in 20 of a disastrous crash? It’s hard imagining anyone doing that, but it is essentially what we are doing to our kids and grandkids by not raising our voices about climate change and the 1-in-20 chance that disaster lies ahead for them. It is bad enough that we are likely on the path to exceed the 3.6 degree Fahrenheit goal stated in the Paris Agreement, which will result in dire consequences such as increasing droughts and wildfires and inundation of low lying coastal areas because of sea level rise.

If we continue on that path without taking the necessary actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there is a 5 percent chance of catastrophic consequences — even an existential threat to humanity by mid-century, according to experts at the Scripps Institute.

We can see the change is happening

We all take chances, but few would board a plane with a 5 percent chance of crashing. In reality, air travel is incredibly safe because we trust those who design, build and test aircraft and manage the flow of thousands of flights a day.

A lot of engineering and science has made aircraft and air travel safe. The same holds for the science behind climate change — a lot of smart and dedicated people who have their own children and grandchildren, working hard to understand what is happening now and what the future holds, and find solutions.

Think of one person who is much younger than you whom you care deeply about — a son, daughter, grandchild, sibling, niece, nephew — and whisper their name and put them on that plane and watch them take off on their journey. Then consider what their future holds given what is happening all around us — it’s getting warmer, large wild fires are more frequent in California, it’s getting too hot to fly planes out of Phoenix, there are more downpours hitting New York City and Boston, and Alaska is melting. And then consider what that younger person’s life journey looks like in a changing climate: It’s not going to get better. By attaching the name of someone you care about, it becomes personal and for many, strikes home.

We care about our kids and grandkids. In the USA, there are an estimated 49 million children under the age of 12, and more than 70 million who are under 18. They can’t vote, and few contribute to political causes or participate in political debates. They don’t have a lot of power, although they are gaining ground on their own in the courts. They are depending on us to ensure a safe and prosperous future, like that air traffic controller who is keeping your loved one safe, but let’s take a look at what lies ahead for them. Ask yourself, what course, what flight plan, are we setting for their future?

Our kids face the consequences of our choices

Let’s fast-forward to the year 2048, when today’s under-12 crowd will be in their early 30s and 40s. Most of them will be settled into careers, with young families, and relatively secure — or maybe not. It all depends on the path we choose to take now.

Path A: It was nearly miraculous given the overall political climate in 2018, along with the disbanding of an important federal climate-change advisory panel, but the 86-member bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus rapidly grew in number and influence — a bit of an awakening with a good dash of bravery. They took to heart the report created by experts from 13 federal agencies on the status of the climate. Climate change was seen as a great challenge but also seen as a way to bridge the political divide. Climate change was accepted as fact, and the challenge confronted through an integration of science and public policy.

So, in 2048 a new clean energy economy is booming, gross domestic product is up $290 billion, as is household income, energy bills down, and an estimated 2 million additional jobs have been created. The United States took advantage of the opportunity for economic development and transformed an inefficient system to one much smarter. By doing so, the nation led the world down a more stable path, with less geopolitical upheaval and more cooperation, and a more just society. Taking on this grand challenge was not easy, and the work will continue for decades to come, benefiting today’s 12 and under crowd and their children and grandchildren.

The other, avoidable path ends in disaster

Path B: If we continue on today’s path and do not address the climate change challenge, the world in 2048 will likely be unravelling, a disaster. And those 30- to 40-year-old’s have several more decades expected lifespan ahead. Their trajectory, their flight, their agenda has been set and will get worse. And they are asking why we didn’t do something about this when we were young, when in fact 70 percent believed that global warming was happening and were concerned about the impact on future generations. It was so obvious at the time that something was up with the climate.

And then there were the predictions of how it would get worse in the future, which is our present day in 2048 — a long, clear and dangerous list. What were the deniers, the doubters, thinking, especially those in leadership roles? Calling climate change a hoax (Donald Trump), denying the science (Rick Perry) or spreading myths (Lamar Smith), yet the rest of the world was recognizing the challenge by signing the Paris climate accord and agreeing to do something about it.

The science behind climate change was more solid than the science behind smoking being a cause of cancer — but it was rejected by people who should have known better.

So today, those who won’t accept the truth about climate change are messing with our children and grandchildren — their life journey. For the vast majority who do believe we face a grand challenge, raise your voice, get involved, and whisper that name again. It’s personal, very personal. What will they say about us in 2048? Did we try?

Mike Hoffmann is executive director of the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions, faculty fellow at Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, and a professor in the Department of Entomology. See also his TEDx Talk, Climate Change: It’s time to raise our voices.

Climate Change Science, Communication, and Action Online Course.

September 11-October 23, 2018

Register Now: Climate Change Science, Communication, and Action

Description:  Interested in working toward climate solutions? Want to learn more about how to talk to people about climate change? This course covers the basics of climate change, from science to action, and will assist you in developing a consistent climate message.

In this 6-week online course, you will start by getting to know each other and the basics of climate science and climate change impacts on our food and water supply, and human health (weeks 1-2). You will then learn about climate change communication and environmental psychology research and consider how this can inform your educational and environmental practices (weeks 3-4). Finally, you will learn about climate change and mitigation community solutions as well as examples of climate change communication in action (week 5-6). Each week will feature a discussion question and a quiz. For your final assignment, you will complete a project plan that details how you will apply course material to your practices. You will have two extra weeks after the course ends to submit your final assignment.

The Law Shelf published a recent review and video on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards in the United States.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), announced nine grants on Wednesday, with a total of over $8 million dollars.  These grants were awarded to research centers focused on the study and development of new approaches to the agricultural sector.  USDA awarded the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions $250,000 to partner with the USDA NE Climate Hub and UMD on a Climate Outreach and Extension grant. CICSS will develop a plan for a new Extension Climate Master Volunteer Program to support Climate Smart Communities in the Northeast.

The Cornell Climate Smart Farming (CSF) Program and the Network for Environment and Weather Applications (NEWA) led a joint webinar hosted by the USDA Northeast Climate Hub on Thursday, May 4, 2017 to educate extension professionals, government employees, and other stakeholders about the online tools available to  help them make more informed decisions in the Northeast. View this informative webinar at the Conservation Webinar Portal.

After serving in the Vietnam war and not returning for decades, CICSS Executive Director Mike Hoffmann has made two trips to Vietnam in the past year to look at the impacts of climate change on the nation. On Dr. Hoffmann’s second trip, he brought along Cornell undergraduate students for a service-learning course so that they could also see the first-hand impacts of climate change in the country. These students lobbied in Washington D.C. after their trip for action on climate change and the continued support of Asian Studies by the U.S. government.

These experiences have given Dr. Hoffmann a unique perspective on the issue of climate change and how it is affecting countries such as Vietnam. Read his perspective in a recent article written for the Cornell page on Medium.com.

Shannan Sweet and David Wolfe conducted a New York State Drought Survey in 2016 in order to determine the impacts of the drought on farmers in New York. The survey aimed to elucidate impacts by commodity and also based on whether farmers irrigated or not.

Read about this survey, the results, and the recommendations based on this research in the third edition of the CICSS Research and Policy Brief Series, entitled “Anatomy of a Rare Drought: Insights from New York Farmers” on our Publications page.

Registration Full – Check back again in Spring 2018!

CICSS is currently offering a new online course, “BF 107: “Climate Smart Farming” from Jan 17 – Feb 21, 2017, in partnership with the Cornell Small Farms Program. In this six-week online course, farmers will learn to identify key impacts to their farms, and how to develop a plan of action to both increase resiliency to extreme temperature and precipitation events, or short term drought, and strategies to reduce their farm’s greenhouse gas footprint. Students will learn from climate experts, educators, and fellow farmers on ways they can proactively approach challenges such as drought, flooding, summer heat stress, changing seasons, freeze risk, and heightened pest and weed pressures. For more information on the Beginning Farmers Project and online courses, visit their website, where a full list of courses and information on registering can be found.

As you may know, the Cornell Institute for Climate Change and Agriculture (CICCA) has recently become the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions (CICSS – prouounced “kicks”). This decision to change our name was made after many months of thoughtful discussion and input from faculty and stakeholders, the Climate Smart Farming (CSF) Extension team, CALS Communications, and with full support of the CALS Dean. CICSS will continue to focus on facilitating interdisciplinary climate change-related research, grant proposal development, and extension and outreach projects. A core focus will also continue to be on climate change and agriculture, with the Cornell Climate Smart Farming (CSF) Program, and CSF Extension Team. But changing the name of the institute will offer us a broader agenda – in many cases work that the Institute is being asked to help address. For example, affiliated social science faculty are working on research projects related to municipal action on climate change, stakeholders belief and action, and climate change communication.  CICSS has been helping facilitate climate change projects on campus (such as climate change literacy), developing new youth education and proposals for Master Volunteer training programs, working on policy outreach, co-organizing the University-wide climate change seminar series, and helping organize the Cornell Delegation to COP 21 and COP 22. Many of these initiatives would not happen without the leadership from the Institute. Come visit us online, or in Rice Hall (102-105).

Each year, the Cornell Climate Smart Farming (CSF) Team, a program of CICCA, participates in the annual Empire Farm Days in Seneca Falls, NY. This year’s event was from August 9th to the 11th, and was attended by farmers, extension professionals, and gardeners from New York State and beyond. The CSF Team displayed its new CSF Decision Tools on an interactive, touch-screen computer. Farmers were able to enter their farm’s location and see outputs on tools such as the GDD Calculator, Irrigation/Water Deficit Calculator, and Frost/Freeze Risk Tool, which can help them make informed, climate-smart decisions.

During the summer of 2016, CICCA welcomed three summer interns to the team! Abbie Kramer, Giorgi Tsintsadze, and Savannah Acosta (Cornell undergraduates) contributed to an incredibly productive summer at CICCA, in which we: started a new social media climate change infographic campaign (example pictured), filmed new decision tool tutorial and farmer interview videos, conducted various climate change-related research projects, applied for high-profile grants including to the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, secured the Cornell delegation to COP22 in Marrakech, maintained a Climate Smart Farming exhibit in Mann Library, and reached out to over 100 youth on climate change. We look forward to building on this work throughout the academic year as well, and have invited our summer interns to work with CICCA as Research Assistants this fall.

Please join us for the opening reception of this exhibit on Thursday, May 5,  from 4:00 – 5:30 PM on the Second floor of Mann Library on Cornell’s campus. In attendance will be: Dale Stein (Stein Farms), Paul King (Six Mile Creek Vineyards), Glenn Evans (Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station) and Allison Chatrchyan of the Cornell Institute for Climate Change and Agriculture (CICCA). 

This is a multimedia exhibit, with both photos and video footage from our new Cornell climate smart farming program: climatesmartfarming.org

The CSF program works with Cornell researchers, extension specialists, and New York State farmers to co-develop tools that increase resiliency, reduce risk, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector. This exhibit showcases this unique collaboration, highlighting stories of farmers’ experiences with extreme weather and climate change and the important adaptations they are making through new cropping systems and varieties, improved water and waste management, and the installation of renewable energy systems.

 For more information about the climate smart farming program of the Cornell Institute for Climate Change and Agriculture at the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, please visit climatesmartfarming.org.

 The “Climate Smart Farming” exhibit is part of Mann Library’s year-long special programming series on climate change launched in fall 2015. For more information about current and upcoming events, please visit mannlib.cornell.edu/events-exhibits. The exhibit will be up from May-August 2016, and there will be a second event with the exhibit and a special talk with Dr. Toby Ault on Friday, June 10, 2016 at 10:00am.

Dr. Joana Chan, CICCA Postdoctoral Research Associate, recently traveled to San Francisco for the National American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, where she presented research on “Agricultural Resilience to Climate Change in the Northeast.”

This research was conducted in 2015, in partnership with the USDA Northeast Climate Hub and Pennsylvania State University, and involved operating three regional research projects to lay the groundwork for facilitating agricultural resiliency to climate change in the Northeast. The poster presented by Dr. Chan, was created by Cornell University and Penn State, and outlines and integrates findings from the Northeast Climate Change and Agriculture Vulnerability Assessment, Regional Research & Extension Capacity Survey, and Literature Review of Agricultural Stakeholder Views to identify priority research and Extension needs.

The Cornell Institute for Climate Change and Agriculture (CICCA) and the David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (ACSF) have created a class/seminar series on climate change, entitled “Cornell University Climate Change Seminar, Perspectives on the Climate Change Challenge.”  This seminar gives students and any other attendees the opportunity to hear climate change experts speak on their research, perspectives, and recommendations regarding the challenges that climate change poses.

Dale Jamieson, Professor of Environmental Studies and Philosophy at NYU, will begin the series on Monday, February 8 with his talk: “Climate Change at the Frontiers of Ethics.”  Seminars will occur every Monday (excluding university holidays) until May 9, and are held at 3:35 PM in 233 Plant Science on the Cornell University campus.  This event is listed as BEE 2000 in the Cornell course registry, but is also FREE and open to the public, and can be accessed via WebEx for distance participation here.

Other talks are listed below:

• Art DeGeatano: The Science and Impacts of Climate Change (Feb 22)
• Toby Ault: Long-term Climate Perspectives, Mega Drought and Seasonal Forecasts (Feb 29)
• Peter Hess: Short Versus Long-loved Forcers of Climate Change (Mar 7)
• Natalie Mahowald: Land Use and Climate Change (Mar 14)
• Allison Chatrchyan, Robert Howarth, Johannes Lehmann, Karen Pinkus: Cornell Perspectives from COP21 in Paris (Mar 21)
• Scott Steinschneider: Planning Our Water Resources Systems for a Changing Climate (Apr 4)
• Christine Goodale (Climate Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (Apr 11)
• David Wolfe: Climate Change and the Future of Food (Apr 18)
• Katherine McComas: Communicating Climate Change (Apr 25)
• Linda Mearns: Simulating the Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and Adaptation Planning (May 2)
• Ravi Kanbur: Climate Justice: Economics and Philosophy (May 9)

Please consider joining us for these weekly events, and contact us with any questions you may have!

 

CICCA’s Climate Smart Farming (CSF) team will be presenting at PASA’s (Pennsylvania Action for Sustainable Agriculture) 25^th Annual Farming for the Future Conference at the end of this week.

The 2016 conference runs from February 3^rd to 6^th and will be held at the Penn Stater Conference Center in State College, PA. This is the largest sustainable agriculture conference in the East, and convenes over 2,000 farmers, processors, consumers, students, environmentalists, and business and community leaders every year. The theme of “Farming in a Changing Climate” this year reflects the ever-increasing impact of climate change on agricultural systems, and the need to raise awareness of best management practices for mitigation and adaptation.

The CSF team is excited to be involved with the conference, and talks to be given by team members and affiliates are listed below:

• Art DeGeatano (Director, Cornell’s Northeast Regional Climate Center) will be giving a workshop with Dan Dostie (USDA-NRCS Climate Hub) from 8:30 AM to 9:50 AM on Friday, February 5^th entitled: “Northeast Climate Change Impact Projections & Planning Considerations for Selecting Adaptation Practices”
• Allison Chatrchyan and Mike Hoffman (CSF Program Founders, and Director and Executive Director of the Cornell Institute for Climate Change) will be giving a workshop from 4:10 PM to 5:30 PM on Friday, February 5^th entitled: “Impacts, Opportunities & Adaptations: Climate-Smart Farming in the Northeast”

Please consider joining us at these events in State College, and contact us for more information if needed!

By David Wolfe

This article originally appeared in The Hill [2015-11-02].

Now that the majority of people in both political parties accept that climate change is occurring, Washington’s top task is to catch up with the rest of the country — particularly business and farming communities — and engage in a real debate about practical solutions.

In a recent op-ed in the Miami Herald, Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R) said lawmakers need to do a better job of focusing on ways to cut carbon emissions, invest in clean energy and combat climate change. While some politicians are just beginning to speak out, community and business leaders of all political persuasions have had little choice but to tackle the very real costs of more frequent and intense weather extremes. It is clear that economic development, capital investments and resource planning today must take into account the best information we have on changing weather patterns and the risks they pose. We may have not reached the point where everyone is comfortable with the phrase “climate change,” but there are many examples showing that the American can-do spirit has come alive as people roll up their sleeves to confront this challenge.

Nowhere is this more evident than with today’s farmers — a group I have worked with closely for three decades as a faculty researcher at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Farmers are on the front lines of climate change, and while they may not all call it by that name or agree about the causes, the vast majority recognize they are the first generation of farmers, ever, who cannot rely on historical weather patterns to tell them when to plant, what to plant or how to grow it.

Many farmers have told me that if the changes were as straightforward as a few more days of heat stress or drought each year, they could plan around that. But the changes are all over the map. One year, farmers may face record-breaking spring rain that delays planting. The next year could bring a record-breaking drought near harvest. Another year, their fruit crops bloom weeks early and get blasted by a spring frost. As a result of this unpredictability, many are hedging their bets, staggering planting dates, planting a wider range of crops and considering investments such as irrigation or drainage systems.

In most cases, adapting to climate change isn’t rocket science. If it is getting drier, expand your irrigation capacity. If you are reaping the rewards of a longer growing season, invest in equipment and skills to produce and market new crops. But these adaptations are not cost- or risk-free. It is hard to know if a changing weather pattern is in fact part of a long-term climate shift or just an unusual blip of weather variability. Lack of response has repercussions for global food security, and will be an important issue in upcoming United Nations climate negotiations in Paris, as pointed out last month by Secretary of State John Kerry at the Milan Expo (which has the theme “Feeding the World, Energy for Life”). Washington can help with policies and programs that provide timely information, investment incentives and access to capital for adaptations that buffer farmers from climate change or help them take advantage of opportunities.

I’ve focused on farmers, but other businesses and communities face similar challenges. If the time has come for a town to replace its storm drainage system, that system should be designed based on the latest flood-risk projections for the region. Land-use planning near coastal zones should take into account sea level rise and the impact of coastal storms. Local and national economic development will require an infrastructure of support for dealing with these decisions. Luckily, we are not starting from scratch. Despite political rhetoric through recent Republican and Democratic administrations, federal agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been developing critical resources on climate risks and opportunities for strategic adaptation.

Equally important is the issue of slowing the pace of change. Many economists have argued that the transition to an energy future free of greenhouse gas emissions will not only reduce the costs of weather-related disasters, but will be a boon to those nations that are at the forefront of new technologies that will take the world there. On Oct. 19, the White House announced that 68 new companies have joined the original 13 signatories of the American Business Act on Climate Pledge. These companies, which include Wal-Mart, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, pledge support for a strong international deal on climate change and commit to taking climate action.

We simply can’t afford another do-nothing Congress on climate change. Business and local community leaders are pulling the plug on the “is it real?” debate and turning our attention to what we will do about it — how we can build climate change resilience and develop smart energy solutions that become the economic engine of the future.

David Wolfe is professor of Plant and Soil Ecology in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University and chair of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future Climate Change Consortium.