IN CCIA March 2021 Newsletter

Stories of Change: Climate + Cities

Cities account for two thirds of the world’s energy demand and over 70% of global CO2 emissions, making cities a key contributor to climate change.

However, with more efficient infrastructure and urban planning, cities have the capacity to reduce emissions and create a better quality of life for their residents.

Take Carmel, Indiana for example – a suburban city just north of Indianapolis. Carmel’s city leaders are taking a smart approach to urban planning by transforming their city to meet the needs of people instead of automobiles and by integrating climate-friendly actions into all aspects of city life. We sat down with Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard to learn how the city is reducing emissions, and about the community benefits of climate-smart planning, for our newest installment of Stories of Change: Climate + Cities.

Learn more about the community benefits of a climate-smart city

Updated Climate Change Tree Atlas

The USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station recently launched Version 4.0 of the Climate Change Tree Atlas, along with a website upgrade. The web improvements include filtering and searching of publications, inclusion of related research products and information, individual descriptions for interpreting the modeled results for each species, and scenario menus to display various maps.

The Climate Change Tree Atlas Version 4.0 includes newer models of habitat suitability for over 135 tree species in the Eastern US, including Indiana. These models were developed and published by the NIACS Landscape Change Research Group in 2019, and are the same models included in the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) forest ecosystems report and urban green spaces report.

View a summary of future projected tree habitat suitability for northern, central, and southern Indiana from the IN CCIA:

PCCRC Annual Report Now Available

For over 15 years, the Purdue Climate Change Research Center has provided science-based, interdisciplinary research and analysis on the causes and consequences of climate change. Some highlights of the work done over the last year by our 90+ faculty affiliates, and education and outreach work from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment, can be found in the pages of the newly released 2020 PCCRC Annual Report.

READ THE REPORT

Putting the IN CCIA Into Action

State Hazard Planning
Each state is required by federal law to periodically update their multi-hazard mitigation plan. A 2019 story map developed by The Polis Center provides highlights from Indiana's Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan (MHMP) 2019 update. One of the key changes to Indiana's MHMP was the addition of past climate trends and future climate impacts based on the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment.

Local Hazard Planning
To help local governments address a changing climate in their hazard planning, the Environmental Resilience Institute recently hosted a webinar featuring two experts who discussed planning resources and examples. View the webinar.

Teaching Climate Change

In the September 2020 IN CCIA Newsletter we shared Shepardson's and Hirsch's five critical topics about climate change that every student should learn and that every adult should understand. These tips are now available as a printable poster that also includes a simplified energy balance and carbon cycle diagram.

Looking for more resources?
Try the Indiana Climate Change Education Framework. The Indiana Department of Education and Purdue University partners worked with K-12 educators across the state to curate climate change resources that intersect with existing Indiana Academic Standards for science. #INclimateEd

Climate Facts

Did you know?

Prior to Covid-19, one of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center's most popular outreach activities at festivals and other gatherings was our jumbo carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration diagram. As visitors would stop by our booth, we would ask them to mark their birth year on the chart. Then, together, we'd talk about how much CO₂ levels had changed from their birth year compared to present day, why CO₂ levels are changing (human activities), and what it means for our current and future climate (global warming). For many, it was startling to see how much the atmosphere has changed just in their lifetime.

Looking back at our jumbo chart (pictured below), we can see it is already outdated. As of this writing in late March 2021, the weekly average CO₂ concentration measured in at 417 parts per million (ppm), up 7 ppm since we printed our jumbo chart in 2018. Looking back further in time, since the start of the Industrial Revolution, CO₂ levels have risen about 49%. Going back hundreds of thousands of years, CO₂ concentrations had never exceeded 300 ppm.

We want to know what the CO₂ levels were when our newsletter readers were born. Visit this interactive CO₂ chart, and then submit your name (first name only) and birth year here. Next month we will share the results!

SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSE

Bottom left: Indiana Climate Leadership Summit (2019)
Bottom right: Curiosity Fair at Conner Prairie (2018)

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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Purdue Climate Change Research Center · 203 S. Martin Jishke Drive · Purdue University · West Lafayette, IN 47907 · USA