IN CCIA June/July 2020 Newsletter

5th Annual Climate Leadership Summit

Mark your calendars and plan to join us virtually at the 5th Annual Climate Leadership Summit on August 27, 2020 from 10 AM to 4 PM.

Each year this day-long event brings together mayors, city leaders, community partners, youth, and scientists from across Indiana to discuss ways to prepare for the changing climate.

Participants will hear about the latest climate science from the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, updates from the IU Environmental Resilience Institute, tools for implementing renewable energy, and more. Join us as we celebrate the progress Indiana communities have already achieved and give cities the opportunity to share best practices.

For more information about this event, contact shannon@earthcharterindiana.org or visit https://www.earthcharterindiana.org/climate-leadership-summit.

Research Updates From Purdue University

We are excited to share with you the inaugural issue of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center Research Roundup, a bimonthly (every 2 months) collection of the latest climate change science from Purdue University researchers.

In this first issue, we invite you to dig into these fascinating and impactful studies that cover topics ranging from the deadly combination of heat and humidity to carbon pricing; from chemical imaging of atmospheric particles to a “Goldilocks” perspective on motivated reasoning; and much more.

Interested in having these research updates delivered right to your inbox? Join the PCCRC mailing list today!

Training Series: Talking Confidently About Climate Change

Last month the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, Purdue Extension, and the Indiana State Climate Office hosted a six-part virtual training series to familiarize educators and professionals with foundational knowledge about climate change. Throughout the series attendees learned why our climate is changing, how it affects Indiana, strategies for navigating tough conversations, and local solutions to this global challenge.

The goal: Help educators and professionals become more confident answering questions and engaging in climate change discussions.

Did you miss the series? No problem! You can watch the recordings and find additional resources at https://ag.purdue.edu/climate/ClimateTraining2020/.

What Can I Do About Climate Change?

Lasting climate solutions will require action on a global scale, but there are ways that individuals can help pave the way for bigger change.

Download our printable poster for a summarized list of practical tips for how YOU can address climate change.

TIP 3: TALK ABOUT IT

Looking for more communication tips? Check out Connecting On Climate: A Guide to Effective Climate Change Communication, from ecoAmerica.

Download Tip 3 (vertical card)
Download Tip 3 (horizontal card)

Dig Deeper: Climate Affects Our Energy Systems

Hoosiers will heat homes and businesses less but rely more on air conditioning as Indiana’s climate warms. As a result, Indiana’s overall residential energy consumption, which is dominated by winter heating, is expected to drop by as much as 3 percent by mid-century. However, the energy needs of businesses, which rely more on cooling than heating, will increase by as much as 5.5 percent over that period, a potential cost increase of more than $100 million annually. Hoosiers are also expected to get more of their energy from natural gas and renewable sources as those become more cost-effective throughout the rest of the century.

These findings are according to the IN CCIA report Climate Change and Indiana’s Energy Sector, which describes how climate change will affect statewide and urban energy demand, changing electricity supplies, and other climate risks for power generation and fuel transport.

Among the report's key findings:

* Heating demand (per capita) in Indiana’s 15 largest cities is projected to decline 8-13% percent by mid-century, while cooling demand is projected to increase 23-28%.

* A carbon tax or renewable tax credit would accelerate Indiana’s transition to renewable energy and result in up to 30% more electricity being sourced from renewables. These modest policy actions would also reduced carbon dioxide emissions by up to 10% per year.

* Extreme heat, which will become more common during Indiana summers, will reduce the capacity of power plants, transmission lines, and substations, potentially causing energy disruption.

* Variations in precipitation could cause more spring flooding and summer drought, affecting energy supplies delivered by barges and disrupting cooling needs for power plants.

View more

DIG DEEPER
The IN CCIA Energy Working Group has published the technical details behind these key findings in the peer-reviewed journal Climatic Change. ⤵️

Raymond, L., Gotham, D., McClain, W., Mukherjee, S., Nateghi, R., Preckel, P.V., Schubert, P., Singh, S., and L. Wachs (2019). Projected Climate Change Impacts on Indiana’s Energy Demand and Supply. Climatic Change. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-018-2299-7

Putting the IN CCIA Into Action

Thank you to everyone who has helped us get the IN CCIA reports and resources into the hands of people who can use them. Whether you're helping communities plan for the future, or working to reduce human influence on our climate, or applying this science in some other way, we want to hear how you've put the IN CCIA into action! Contact Us.

Interested in learning more about the Hoosier Resilience Index? Sign-up for upcoming trainings from the Environmental Resilience Institute, or request a personalized training. Learn more.

Upcoming Events

As we pause travel to help stop the spread of COVID-19, events are being rescheduled, postponed, canceled, or moved online. We're updating our Events page regularly to keep you informed.

If you're interested in hosting a virtual climate change meeting in your community, please be in touch by email.

Climate Facts

Did you know?

"It is extremely difficult for people to think beyond their personal circumstances, but it is important to remember that we are equally-exposed to risks, but the sensitivity and resiliency varies widely. If people could simply understand this simple but powerful fact, society might feel a bit less self-focused and more empathetic."

--Dr. Marshall Shepherd discussing racial disparities and vulnerability to environmental threats, such as climate change and Covid-19, in a recent article in Forbes.

It is widely recognized that climate change disproportionately affects communities of color, low income communities, and other marginalized groups. This is because vulnerability goes beyond just the exposure to a threat. Factors such as sensitivity (underlying health conditions and disparities) and adaptive capacity (ability to respond and recover from impacts) are major contributing factors to vulnerability. The unfortunate reality is that long-standing social and environmental injustices have resulted in non-white communities generally having increased sensitivity to climate extremes and less adaptive capacity.

As cities and towns across the U.S., and throughout Indiana, discuss climate change impacts and actions, it's important to consider how racial and financial disparities may alter local vulnerabilities to hazards. It is also important that climate solutions don't inadvertently burden the most vulnerable among us.

Listed below are a few resources to help you expand your awareness about climate change vulnerability and environmental justice. If you have other recommended resources that you'd like to share, please send them our way!

Climate change, health, and environmental justice fact sheet (U.S. EPA)
How marginalized communities are worst hit by extreme weather events (TEDx talk)
Dr. Robert Bullard ("the father of environmental justice") discusses environmental racism and climate justice (Amanpour and Co. on PBS)
A 3-minute history of U.S. environmental justice with Talia Buford (ProPublica)
Unequal impact: The deep links between racism and climate change (Yale Environment 360)

About Us:

Led by the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) is a statewide effort that brings the best available climate change research together into a series of reports designed to help Hoosiers better understand climate change-related risks so they can prepare for challenges and capitalize on opportunities.

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