Articles in the first half of 2023

Here are a collection of articles relating to Climate Change that Billings residents might find interesting. It's a start though as I'm sure you can find articles everyday in the news that relate.

1. How moving away from green lawn is an easy way to fight climate change.
• "Feel Hopeless About Our Planet?  Here's How You Can Solve a Problem Right In Your Own Backyard." CBC, April 2023
• This article discusses how typical 'green lawns' are actually very bad for the environment and a tradition from the past that we should move away from. They provide very little for the environment, and require effort, water, and often chemical maintenance. A better choice is to reduce the size of your lawn and move to more natural local species, perhaps having a 'no-mow' zone to promote biodiversity and more carbon absorption from the atmosphere. Check out Homegrown National Park if you're interested in taking the next step!
2. Try and buy only 5 new items of clothing each year?
• "Why I'm Only Buying 5 New Things in 2023" The Financial Times, January 2023
• This is an article from a fashion artist about how we need to buy less clothing. Buying new and discarding old means more greenhouse gas emissions from the production of all these clothing items. If everyone reduced their clothing purchases by half it would mean industry would actually produce less clothing and there would be less GHG emissions. Buy quality items that last, and you don't have to buy new all the time. Here's a follow-up article about doing laundry less to help make your clothes last longer.
3. How discussion about climate change can get derailed and distracted away from the real issue.
• "How Big Oil is Manipulating the Way You Think About Climate Change." The Salon, May 2023
• In discussions about complicated issues such as climate change it be difficult to focus on the key issues. Short term setbacks and distract from long term goals. Different perspectives can draw away from core principles. This article is about avoiding 'red herrings' in discussions about climate change to make sure the discuss moves forward and doesn't get too distracted from side issues.
4. How has the weather changed here?

• "Is May Always This Cold in PEI? New climate dashboard has the answers." CBC, June 2023
• When our seasons change it can be hard to compare one spring to the previous spring. Has this been the hottest spring yet? The CBC now has a climate dashboard where you can choose your rough location (e.g. Gore Bay) and then see historical weather date compared to this year's weather. Comparing weather to historical averages can help us examine the question of how our daily or monthly weather patterns reflect a changing climate or not. It also shows record high and low temperatures, historical daily trends, and overall projections for our temperature increase due to a few contrasting scenarios for the future. Remember there is also the IPCC Interactive Climate Atlas if you're interested in looking at more detailed future scenarios with temperatures, precipitation, and population density. You may also want to check this Canadian Version.