Category Archives: Climate

You Asked, We Answered – Climate Change and Cities

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Rishya N.

Last week, Mass Audubon’s Climate Change Program Director, Alexandra Vecchio, took over our Instagram story to answer your questions about climate change and cities for our First Friday Climate Action Ask Me Anything (AMA).

Here Were the Top Three Most Asked Questions:

Boston Youth Climate Strike, September 2019.

Q: Does climate change affect cities differently?

A: Yes, because of what lies inside cities. Cities contain a large number of impervious surfaces, which don’t absorb water. These surfaces increase runoff and flooding during storm events.

Cities also experience much warmer temperatures compared to surrounding rural or suburban areas due to increased absorption and retention of heat. Our urban centers house less flora than their suburban and rural counterparts, which turn heat into moisture to “sweat” and keep their environment cool. Paired with dark asphalt, buildings, and other typical urban features, our cities are retaining and creating heat at a higher rate.

Q: How can we use nature in our cities to fight climate change?

A: In my city, Somerville, I love to see street trees, which provide habitat for local wildlife, shade for our communities, and natural climate mitigation. Trees mitigate climate change by soaking up the most common greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, like a sponge.

As we see increased temperatures in Massachusetts due to climate change, trees are particularly important to shade our homes and reduce the amount of energy we use to keep cool. Trees also help alleviate the urban heat island effect: when parts of our cities are significantly hotter than neighboring suburbs.

Q: I’ve seen a lot of rain gardens around Boston. Can you tell me about the impact they have?

A: Rain gardens, or bioswales, use vegetation to help absorb storm water during heavy rain events, filter out pollutants, and then allow the water to slowly sink back into the soil. They can also provide habitats for local pollinators and wildlife.

This nature-based climate solution improves water quality and reduces flood risks – protecting our homes and businesses. Green infrastructure like this can be found all throughout Massachusetts.

We Can Help

It’s easy to focus on the risk climate change poses to our urban centers, but we encourage you to look around your own city for the many climate solutions in action. You can get involved in a street tree planting initiative like the City of Boston’s program, help care for a nearby community garden, or serve on a local board to advocate for the increased use of nature-based solutions or green infrastructure in your own neighborhood.

You can also visit one of our urban wildlife sanctuaries to see natural, urban climate solutions in action: Boston Nature Center in Mattapan, Broad Meadow Brook in Worcester, and Oak Knoll in Attleboro.

Tune in Next Time

If you didn’t have time to submit your questions, ask them in the comments below or email us at [email protected]. If you’re looking for another space to ask questions and have judgement-free conversations about climate change until our next AMA, register for our virtual Climate Café on July 16.

Make sure to follow us on Instagram, @MassAudubon, and visit our Story next month on August 3 to ask your questions for our First Friday Climate Action AMA. We’ll see you then!

Climate Action Benefits our Health

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Rishya N.

We can see climate change’s impacts on the health of our world all around us, right here in Massachusetts. Our friends, families, and neighbors have to adapt (just like wildlife and plants) to new and heightened threats – and one of those is a threat to public health.

Climate change’s warming temperatures influence the spread of disease bearing insects, like the Deer Tick, Ixodes scapularis. Photo © Scott Bauer, USDA/Flickr

Warm, Warmer, Too Hot

Warming temperatures bring with them a rise in extreme heat events, which are linked to an increase in hospital admissions for cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory disorders.

Cities are hit especially hard by extreme heat. Urban areas experience a phenomenon known as “urban heat islands”: when specific parts of cities face significantly higher temperatures than their suburban or rural counterparts.

This heat difference arises because of how well each environment absorbs and holds heat. Suburban or rural areas have abundant plants, grass, trees, and other flora – tools that NASA calls “nature’s air conditioner.” Cities, on the other hand, don’t contain as much flora. Dark asphalt, sidewalks, and buildings that comprise our cities aggravate this problem by actually generating more heat.

An Uptick in Disease-Bearing Ticks (and Others)

Warming temperatures also influence the spread of disease bearing insects. Lyme disease, West Nile virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and Zika virus are all occurring more frequently in the US and are all carried by insects like ticks and mosquitoes. As Massachusetts, warms, these diseases are surviving in and spreading to areas they weren’t able to before.

It’s the Sneezon

Climate change makes springs and summers longer, increasing Massachusetts’ growing season and consequently how long plants produce pollen. Both these byproducts intensify allergy symptoms.

Allergies are only one part of the problem. Burning fossil fuels creates excess greenhouse gasses and pollution, like particle matter (PM), that lowers air quality. Such pollution is directly linked to the development of asthma in young children and worsening asthma symptoms in those already dealing with the illness.

Social Equity in Public Health

Climate change’s disparate impacts are nothing new, and are deeply rooted in history. The very sources that have pumped greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere for years have been overwhelmingly sited near communities of color, especially Black communities. Additionally, urban heat islands tend to map onto almost the exact same locations Black communities were forced into in the 1930s through the formal practice of “redlining.”

It’s no coincidence, then, that marginalized populations bear the brunt of climate change’s public health effects. According to a 2018 study, communities in poverty faced 1.35 times the burden of PM pollution from sources like power plants and cars (also rampant greenhouse gas sources) compared to the overall population, people of color faced 1.28 times the burden, and Black Americans suffered 1.54 times the burden.

Even worse, marginalized communities like people of color tend to have less coverage, access, and use of quality health care. That means already vulnerable communities struggle in obtaining treatment for climate change induced heat-related illnesses, insect-borne diseases, allergies, and asthma.

We Can Fight Climate Change Together

Here’s how we can keep our friends, families, and our most vulnerable populations healthy and safe.

Find and Support a Local, Climate Justice Organization

By supporting a climate justice organization, you support people on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

Take a Climate Pledge

Commit to reducing your greenhouse gas emissions by yourself or with your friends, family, or community.

Learn About Environmental Justice

Public health impacts demonstrate that the health of our environment is directly tied to the health of our communities, and some groups are disproportionately affected. Our climate fight must be guided by equity and justice – and we can start acting by learning.

Sign Up for our E-Newsletter, Climate Connection

Each month, we’ll send you climate information, community action, and solutions. Sign up for our newsletter to join our climate action community and help us tackle climate change.