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What a Warming World Means for Plants, Pests and Pollinators, webinar, June 18th

Photo: Courtesy of SERC

Tuesday, June 18, 2024
7 pm
Register here.

How will a hotter planet reshape the insect world? In the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) June evening webinar, join entomologist and author Michael Raupp for a look at the future of insects, both pests and pollinators. He will reveal how climate change is shifting weather patterns around the globe, and what that means for insects and mites in the mid-Atlantic. Learn how rising temperatures impact insect abundance, distributions, seasonal behaviors and the web of interactions among plants, herbivores and their natural enemies.

Michael Raupp

Professor Emeritus·University of Maryland

Mike is professor emeritus at the University of Maryland. He has received more than a dozen international, national and regional awards for writing, scholarship and scientific outreach. Mike has appeared on major television and radio networks in this country and several abroad, and been featured in National Geographic Ultimate Explorer, Science Channel and PBS. He has appeared with luminaries including Jay Leno, Hoda Kotb and Robin Roberts. His “Bug of the Week” website, www.bugoftheweek.com, and Youtube channel (www.youtube.com/user/BugOfTheWeek) reach tens of thousands of viewers weekly in more than 200 countries around the world. His most recent book, “26 Things That Bug Me,” introduces youngsters to the wonders of insects and natural history, while “Managing Insect and Mites on Woody Plants” is a standard for the arboricultural industry.

Climate Extremes: What’s the Forecast for Invasive Species?, Webinar, January 16th

Photo: Julia Blum

Tuesday, January 16, 2024
7 pm
Webinar
Register here.

As the planet heats up, non-native species all over the U.S. are pushing north to follow the warmer weather. But the simple narrative doesn’t end there. Dr. Andy Chang, lead marine biologist for Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s California branch, has tracked the movement of species introduced by human activity to San Francisco Bay and the California coast for the past two decades. In addition to northward and upstream migrations in warmer years, his team has also noticed species getting wiped out in years of intense rainfall. In this talk, he’ll reveal how climate change and extreme weather like droughts and floods are changing the seascape for invaders. He’ll also highlight how countries can use this knowledge to help stop nascent invasions before they get a foothold, in San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay and around the world.

What’s For Dinner? Reconnecting Our Food With Our Climate

Photo: SERC

Tuesday, October 24, 2023
7 pm
Zoom, hosted by Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)
Register here.

Our food systems have become increasingly fragile in the face of climate change, ongoing conflicts and the long-tail of the COVID-19 pandemic. More frequent—and more intense—extreme events challenge food production, storage and transportation. At the same time, how we grow, process, package and transport our food often harms the environment, further accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss. Fixing this requires bridging the gap between food policies and climate policies. Join Dr. Jessica Fanzo for a look at sustainable food practices for a hotter, more turbulent world. Fanzo directs the Food for Humanity Initiative at the Columbia University Climate School. In this talk, she’ll reveal the must-do actions to nourish 9.7 billion people by 2050.

3rd Annual Mount Vernon District Environmental Expo, June 26th

Photo courtesy of Environment Expo

Fort Hunt Park
8999 Fort Hunt Road, Alexandria VA
Saturday, June 26, 2021
8am – Noon
Reserve your FREE ticket today!

This FREE Family Friendly Event will include: Exhibitors, Workshops, Live Music, Live Reptile and Owl Programs, Electric Vehicles, Nature Walks, Junior Ranger Program, Touch-a-Truck Recycling, History Tours, Purple Glass Monster (bring your glass recycling for drop off!), Food Trucks and more!

This year’s event will be held in partnership with the National Park Service. The event will educate and inform local residents on environmental challenges that they face on a daily basis, including ones that are unique to the Mount Vernon area. Attendees will leave the Expo with simple actions they can take to make an impact on climate change and our environment.

This event will adhere to COVID-19 restrictions and protocols in place on June 26. In order to meet any outdoor event size limits, pre-registration is recommended. If COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, walk-ups without registration will be permitted. Please visit the Expo registration site to reserve your FREE ticket today!

The Social Cost of Carbon

Climate change is the central issue of our time, affecting everything connected to the natural world.

Economists have calculated the costs of climate change, one of which is the social cost of carbon (SCC). Watching this 3-minute video on SCC is an easy way to understand the reasoning behind the concept and what it means in terms of government decision making that affects all of us.

An additional resource is this explanation by Kevin Rennet and Cora Kingdon of Resources for the Future (excerpted here): “The social cost of carbon (SCC) is an estimate, in dollars, of the economic damages that would result from emitting one additional ton of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The SCC puts the effects of climate change into economic terms to help policymakers and other decisionmakers understand the economic impacts of decisions that would increase or decrease emissions. The SCC is currently used by local, state, and federal governments to inform billions of dollars of policy and investment decisions in the United States and abroad. This explainer reviews how the SCC is used in policy analysis, how it is calculated, and how it came to be.”

The Environmental Defense Fund offers accessible articles on SCC as well as an amazing podcast called Degrees. The host, Yesh Pavlik Slenk, interviews people who use their jobs and their time to make a real difference for their communities.

Want to reduce your own carbon footprint? Rare.org suggests 7 easy ways to start.

Climate Solutions 101, by Project Drawdown

Project Drawdown brings you science and insights from global leaders in climate policy, research, investment, and beyond. Rather than rehashing well-known climate challenges, Project Drawdown sets out climate action opportunities based on its own rigorous scientific review and assessment. Climate Solutions 101, presented as a six-part video series, combines Project Drawdown’s trusted resources with the expertise of inspiring thought leaders from around the world.

Climate solutions become attainable with increased access to free, science-based educational resources, elevated public discourse, and tangible examples of real-world action.

Deepen your climate solutions commitment by taking the course–each lesson is about 15 minutes.

Check Out Two Air Quality and Energy Choice Activities for Educators from the Environmental Protection Agency and MIT

Environmental Protection Agency researchers participate in educational outreach to schools, museums, and other locations to teach students about air quality and climate change research that EPA and partners conduct to protect the air we breathe and provide the knowledge and scientific tools to respond to a changing climate. As part of the outreach, researchers have developed several hands-on activities for teachers and others to use in the classroom and other educational settings.

Particulate Matter (PM) Air Sensor Kits

Particle pollution, known as particulate matter (PM), is one of the major air pollutants regulated by EPA to protect public health and the environment. EPA researchers developed a PM air sensor kit as an educational tool to teach children about air quality and air science. MIT extended the work and developed a kit that you and your students can build together. Learn more and order the kit.

Generate: The Game of Energy Choices

EPA scientists developed an interactive board game called Generate: The Game of Energy Choices, which enables players to explore energy choices and the environment and gets students “energized” in some friendly competition. The game is a teaching tool that can be used to understand the costs and benefits of the energy choices we make; find out what happens if the mix of energy sources changes in the future and learn what energy choices mean for our climate, air, water, and overall environmental quality.

Encourage the Teens in Your Life to Work With Fairfax County to Protect the Environment

The Fairfax County Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC) is pleased to announce the opening of the application period for its student member term running from July 2021 through June 2022. EQAC comprises of one citizen representative from each of nine magisterial districts, four at‑large members, and one student representative. Each member is appointed by the Board of Supervisors to serve a three-year term, except the student member, who serves during her or his junior or senior year of high school.

EQAC’s primary function is to make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for improving environmental protection and enhancement. During monthly meetings, issues such as water quality, air quality, land use, transportation, solid waste, noise, ecological resources, climate change, energy, hazardous materials, visual and light pollution, and environmental stewardship are investigated. In addition, EQAC holds a public comment meeting each year, typically in January, to obtain input from the community on issues of environmental concern.

The Annual Report on the Environment, which is prepared by EQAC, provides information on the status of various environmental resources and issues and is designed to aid the Board of Supervisors in setting its environmental agenda and priorities. EQAC prepares the Annual Report on the Environment with contributions from different agencies.

The council generally meets on the second Wednesday of each month, starting at 7:15 p.m. The student member application is open to all interested high school sophomores and juniors who are in good standing. Eligible public school, private school, parochial, and homeschooled students are encouraged to apply.

If you are currently a sophomore or junior in good standing and would be interested in serving in this capacity during your junior or senior year, please download and complete the application linked below. All applications must be received via email to [email protected] by 11:59 PM on Friday, May 14, 2021.

Download application

Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan Public Surveys Are Now Open

What would it take for you to make a major energy-saving improvement to your home? Would a rebate help? How about changes to HOA or permitting requirements? What do you think it would take to reduce the use of personal vehicles in Fairfax County?

Answer these questions and more in three very brief online surveys, open now through March 14, and help inform the development of Fairfax County’s first-ever Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan, or CECAP. The five minutes you spend on a survey today will have a real impact on our community tomorrow and for years to come. Find the surveys here.

How Climate Change Affects Your Health

There’s more to climate change than meets the eye. When most people hear the term “climate action” they think of planting trees, turning off the lights, driving clean cars, and buying less plastic. There’s good reason for these associations, all of these activities help to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, or address greenhouse gas emissions, and this is the heart of climate action. People think about these activities in terms of environmental and economic benefits – we can preserve natural resources and build a more sustainable economy for future generations. Health doesn’t always enter the conversation, but it should.

Spread of Infectious Disease

As weather patterns and temperature norms shift over time, so will the spread of infectious disease. Many infectious diseases are carried by vectors, like mosquitoes and ticks, and these organisms will see a change in their home ranges over time as the climate changes. We could see diseases that were once considered tropical or subtropical become commonplace here in Fairfax County.

Heat Waves For Days

In the DC-metro region, we’re used to some hot summer days. But what if those stretches of extremely hot weather worsened and lasted for longer periods of time? What if a trend toward hotter weather overall started to impact our health? It’s possible. We already know that climate change is expected to cause a steady increase in the number of days with high minimum temperatures (nighttime temperatures that remain above 75 degrees) in our region. Sustained heat events can be dangerous to those who work outdoors, children who spend time outdoors, the elderly, pregnant women, low-income individuals without access to relief, and those with weakened immune systems.

Pollution and Respiratory Illness

Finally, it’s important to know that many of the same chemical compounds that change our climate over time are also common air pollutants, which make it harder to breathe and can exacerbate respiratory illnesses, like asthma. By working to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, personally and as a community, we can have a direct impact on air quality in our region.

This is why Fairfax County is developing the first-ever Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan, or CECAP. The CECAP is unique in that it is being developed by the community, for the community, with input from dozens of organizational, business, and civic leaders, as well as individual residents. The CECAP will outline greenhouse gas reduction goals for the community and will include recommended strategies and actions community members can take on a voluntary basis to help achieve the goals. County residents interested in helping to implement the plan can email [email protected] for more information.