Page 26 - Sonoma County Gazette MARCH 2020

New records this month don’t bode well for the planet.
Lots of climate crisis activism happening in April. On Sunday, March 15th, the Sonoma County Climate Activist Network is sponsoring the SONOMA COUNTY CLIMATE ACTIVIST COMMUNITY SUMMIT: IT’S UP TO US! from 1:30-6:00 PM at the Odd Fellows Hall, 545 Pacific Ave., Santa Rosa 95404. Free; donations welcome. tinyurl.com/slactse.
Save the Date, April 17th at 4 PM for SRJC’s 2nd Climate Action Night.
Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary is April 22nd. Some activities to
check out—
• Earth Day Network is sponsoring The Great Global Clean Up DayTM .
• For locations check www.cleanup.earthday.org .
• Follow Greta Thunberg and millions of students in April! FridaysforFuture’s huge 3-day global climate strike is April 22nd-24th, celebrating Earth Day’s Anniversary. See www.fridaysforfuture.org. for a strike near you.
Odd Fellows Hall, 545 Pacific Ave., Santa Rosa 95404
Free with donations gratefully accepted
By Connie Madden
Locally — This is the driest February in over 150 years. It may end with zero rainfall. Earl ier February temperatures were nearly 20° above average, after the hottest January on record. Warmer temperatures and less precipitation mean the Sierra snowpack level is at least 58% below normal. So, we’re heading back into drought. Time to remember all the water saving techniques we learned
in the last drought, which lasted over seven years in parts of California. Click on Regional Resources at www.savingwaterpartnership.org to refresh your memory. And, seriously, take out that lawn! Find rebate information at tinyurl. com/wpdrv3b.
Globally — Rising temperatures around the world are worrisome, but the record-breaki ng temperatures in Antarctica this month are even more so. On February 9th, researchers measured a temperature of 69.35° F. Earth’s poles are warming quicker than much of the rest of the planet. Global heating in
for certain is that not stopping the burning of coal, oil and g as will drive up the risks for coastal metropolises from
Youth is rising up, demanding action - not empty promises. Jonah Gottlieb, co-founder, and president of Global Awareness, Kate Roney, co-director of Schools For Climate Action and director of Climate Action for the National Children’s Campaign and local Sunrise Movement youth leaders will discuss how they are building a movement to win through political engagement, direct action, and organizing.
New York to Mumbai, Hamburg or Shanghai,” said the lead author. (And San Francisco won’t be left out!)
So why aren’t we taking this more seriously? Well, for one thing
we aren’t getting many facts, and what we do get isn’t always accurate. In fact, it can be downright wrong! According to a recent study by Brown University,
a quarter of all tweets about climate on an average day are produced by bots, distorting online information to include far more climate science denialism than it would otherwise. Analysis of millions of tweets from when the administration announced the US proposed withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change found that bots tended to applaud this action, while spreading misinformation about the climate science.
Natural gas bans in Santa Rosa, Windsor, and Healdsburg
approved by state. The bans, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
in most new residential construction (excluding rebuilds from recent fires) were passed by the cities last year. The California Energy Commission voted 5-0 to approve them, despite a lawsuit by developer Bill Gallaher, asking the Commission to deny the applications of Windsor and Santa Rosa. Incidentally, Gallaher’s daughter, Mary Gallaher Flater, donated over $500K to defeat Measure I—the SMART funding extension.
Woody Hastings, Sonoma County Environmentalist of the Year, will
shine a light on changes that will democratize our energy infrastructure making massive power outages and PG&E-sparked wildfire a nightmare of the past with community-based energy systems such as micro-grids. Steve Birdlebough from Sonoma County Transportation & Land-Use Coalition will show us the mobility system of the future.
Antarctica leads to increased snowmelt and ice loss. During this recent heat wave, Antarctica lost about 20% of its snow. See NASA’s awesome images
at tinyurl.com/s34grn9. A 2018 study estimated total ice loss averaged
43 gigaton/year from 1992-2002, increasing to 220 gigaton/year from 2012-2017.
A recent study found that Antarctic melting could raise sea levels up to
11 feet by 2100—triple the 100 years’ rise. The study’s team said rapid cuts to greenhouse emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change could help limit the ice-sheet loss. With emissions rising yearly, though, we’ll see significant disruption to coastal communities — “What we know
Wildlife biologist and Sonoma County Poet Laureate Maya Khosla, Cory O’Gorman, Graduate Student at Sonoma State University and North Bay Organizing Project’s indigenous activist Tayse Crocker will share their work on wildlands, waters, and pesticides. Elizabeth Kaiser of Singing Frogs Farm in Sebastopol will tell us how to regenerate healthy soils, grow nutrient-rich foods intensively and restore balance to our bountiful ecosystem
Beyond these material proposals, Trathen Heckman from Daily Acts and Transition US will re-frame our urgent message as an interconnected whole, a vision of a future we want to live in -- an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just human presence on this planet
Environmental and social justice groups have learned that we are much stronger in a coalition and that positive changes happen when we support each other’s initiatives. Our elected officials notice and respond when we come out in strength and speak with one voice. Lynda Hopkins, farmer, environmentalist, and Sonoma County Supervisor will give her insights on issues that are facing us & how we can best bring solutions to elected officials.
To RSVP at: https://forms.gle/AD7i6hSpzDLjnkwi7
26 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3/20