Author Archives: Mass Audubon

Learning from the Latest Climate Report 

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Mass Audubon

Earlier this month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its sixth major report on the science of climate change. Condensing scientific evidence from 14,000 studies, its findings paint a stark view of our future.  

Using the strongest language ever used by IPCC scientists, the report confirms with “unequivocal” certainty for the first time that human activity continues to contribute to climate change. 

bird on grass and twigs in silhouette with bright sun in the background
© Declan Schweizer

It also issues a clarion call to avoid the worst-case scenario that otherwise looms ahead by enacting transformational changes to our energy, transportation, built environment, and land systems. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres says, the report is “a code red for humanity…the alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable.” 

The IPCC’s analysis of the latest climate science shows four significant trends: 

Trend 1: Rise in Greenhouse Gases

Human activities have caused observed increases in greenhouse gas concentrations since the Industrial Revolution. As of 2019, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were the highest they have been in two million years, and methane levels were the highest in 800,000 years. The report calls on countries to cut their methane emissions to most effectively limit temperature increases. 

Trend 2: Warming Temperatures

Global surface temperatures between 2011 and 2020 were 1.09°C warmer than between 1850 and 1900, and the past four decades have been the warmest of all decades since 1850. Since 1970, the global surface temperature has increased faster than any other 50-year period in the past 2,000 years. Among the report’s most startling findings: warming exceeding 1.5°C as soon as 2040 is possible if swift action is not taken. This is at least a decade earlier than projected in earlier IPCC reports.  

Trend 3: Sea Level Rise

Since 1900, the global mean sea level has risen faster than any other century in the past 3,000 years. Additional sea level rise and glacial melting are unavoidable: sea levels could increase by 2 feet by 2100 (as opposed to the 1.5-foot rise previously predicted). 

Trend 4: Links Between Climate Change and Extreme Weather 

Major improvements to methods that link climate change to extreme weather events show that the intense heat waves experienced across North America this summer—such as 116°F in Portland, Oregon—would be “virtually impossible” without humanity’s influence on the climate system.  

The Road Ahead: Reason for Hope  

The IPCC makes clear that some climate change is irreversible—our unrelenting reliance on fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution means a degree of warming that cannot be undone. This news can feel completely overwhelming.  

But we really do still have reason for hope: a chance to avoid the worst impacts of climate change remains. We have about one decade worth of emissions at current levels remaining in the “carbon budget” to hold onto the chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C by 2100.  

Meeting this carbon budget in the next decade will require swift, decisive, and transformational changes to our current way of doing business. We’ll be advocating for these changes—and sharing opportunities for you to do the same—every step of the way.

By Anna Mervosh and Michelle Manion

Making Inclusive & Equitable Access to Nature Real

Posted on August 17, 2021 by Mass Audubon

A Q&A with Meghadeepa Maity, Organizer of Arcadia’s Sitting Duck Award-Winning Team

This year’s Bird-a-thon included a new competitive birding award: the Sitting Duck for most bird species observed while remaining in a 25-foot circle. The West Team took home the award in an intentionally inclusive event organized by volunteer and avid birder Meghadeepa Maity.

We talked with them about the big win, their commitment to making nature accessible and safe, and how this aligns with Mass Audubon’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

Meghadeepa Maity
Meghadeepa Maity

Why was organizing an intentionally inclusive event so important to you?

I am a fierce advocate for safety, accessibility, and inclusivity in the outdoors, especially in birding spaces. Among other things, I facilitate the Anti-racist Collective of Avid Birders; I am a Birdability captain; and I am a co-coordinator for the Murmuration Project. 

I believe that anti-oppression work can’t go far without deconstructing systems and institutions that aren’t built with BIPOC, disabled folks, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and trauma survivors in mind. It’s all too easy for those with privilege or power to say that they aren’t explicitly exclusionary, then absolve themselves of responsibility. In this regard, Mass Audubon is an institution that has shown great humility, initiative, and a commitment to taking actionable steps to diversify the outdoors.

On a more personal note, many facets of my identity have historically been excluded from the outdoors, and often make traditional birding communities feel uncomfortable or inaccessible. I appreciate how invested Mass Audubon is in building equitable access to nature, and wanted to use Bird-a-thon as an opportunity to show community members how powerful outdoor spaces can be when one is intentional with their efforts to make it inclusive.

What were the results of the inclusive stationary count circles you organized for Bird-a-thon?

We had almost 70 participants—we welcomed people who dropped by for short stints over the 24 hours of Bird-a-thon, so I don’t have an exact count. Ages ranged from 4 to 88 and fell within an incredible spectrum of racial, gender, and disability identities. Some had been participating in Bird-a-thon for decades, while others had never attended a birding event before.

Those birding from the 25-foot wide, wheelchair-accessible circle at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton spotted 77 species. The Feminist Bird Club (Boston chapter) was impressed by our inclusive initiative and decided to help rack up our species total by setting up their own stationary counts on the coast, adding another 25 species to the tally. So, we observed 102 species total, and we raised $1,300 for Mass Audubon.

It was exciting to have this all recognized with the first ever Sitting Duck Award. No matter how you want to measure it, this event was groundbreaking and an epic success.

Group of people and chairs in a circle at Arcadia.

What did you learn from your organizing during this year’s Bird-a-thon?

In birding spaces, the presumption is that being a competitive birder and an inclusive birder are mutually exclusive. For Bird-a-thon this year, I’d set out to prove that inclusion works, even when success is measured using traditional metrics. It meant a lot to have the support of the West Region’s Bird-a-thon organizing team to prove this hypothesis. I was humbled by the number of people that came out for our event. It’s easy to forget that you’re an introvert when you’re surrounded by people who believe in you!

I learned that I don’t have to give up competitive birding to make space for everyone outdoors. In order to meet our accessibility goals, our count circle was located in pretty unremarkable habitat (in many birders’ opinion), but I found my lifer Yellow-billed Cuckoo from our little corner at Arcadia!

You can try to separate anti-oppression from conservation efforts, but the reality is that we are better together. I hope that we’ve set an example that will become a Bird-a-thon tradition, and will be trending within Mass Audubon and in birding communities across the country.

Mass Audubon and the West Region team are grateful to Meghadeepa for their leadership and bringing so many into the joys of birding throughout the year and during this year’s Bird-a-thon.