Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between climate and weather?
Climate is often confused with isolated weather events, so that, for example, when the temperature in the southern part of the US dips below 30°F some people might question whether global warming is really happening. To help understand misconceptions like this, Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd, President of the American Meteorological Society, used a simple analogy: “Weather is your mood and climate is your personality.”
If climate is the personality of the planet, then it is changing from a relatively calm, familiarly stable, even nurturing persona to a much more moody and destructive persona. While the fields where we once grew our corn and the beaches where we played with our kids might have experienced the occasional heavy rainstorm or hurricane, climate change will generate storms of such ferocity on a more frequent basis that some of those fields and beaches will no longer be available to our children and grandchildren.
Isn’t “climate change” just a part of the natural cycle of the planet? What makes you think we humans can do anything to change it?
Yes, the Earth goes through periods of warming and cooling, but the rise in global average temperatures since the 1800s is a sharp spike, as revealed in this NASA graph:
That spike closely correlates with the steep increase in man-made emissions of greenhouse gases resulting from industrialization. As western economies developed, and populations worldwide multiplied, more fossil fuels were burned to keep up with rapidly increasing demands for power. The resulting CO2 emissions as well as the increased emissions of methane from industrialized agriculture, both greenhouse gases, produced the accelerated rise in the global average temperature.
The fact that human society had this kind of impact on Earth’s natural cycle once suggests that we have the capability to further affect the system a second time.
Related Problems: National Debt, Infrastructure, Immigration
Researched and written by George Linzer
Reviewed by Lisa Palmer
Published on November 5, 2019
Progress Updates
Energy Market, State and Local Governments Reduce Emissions
In the past four years, changing markets and state and local government policy have helped reduce carbon emissions despite Trump's promise to bring back coal.
Chattanooga Nonprofit Cuts Household Costs, Carbon Emissions With Utility Program
Utility efficiency initiatives may not be the best bang-for-your-buck climate solution. But they advance equity in the bargain.
Carbon Emissions Drop In Chattanooga, TN
Greenhouse gas emissions in Chattanooga dropped 25% in 10 years. New plans aim to reduce them further as local temperatures rise.
Iowa Bank Goes Carbon Neutral
The Decorah Bank and Trust Company in Decorah, IA has reached a major milestone that few businesses can claim: its operations are officially carbon neutral.
Leader Profiles
Holly Martin: Building a Better Local Food System
2021-01-14T16:02:52-05:00Holly Martin founded the Chattanooga Sustainable Food Center to build a better food system: one that serves hungry people and local farmers. Gaining Ground, a flagship grocery store, is the first step.
Larry Grimstad: Renewable Energy Investor
2020-05-19T11:19:56-05:00Through personal projects and his business, banker Larry Grimstad has invested in wind and solar energy projects as the smart business choice for building a more stable future for his community.
Danielle Vogel: Climate Change Grocer
2020-12-09T08:51:54-05:00Frustrated by Congress' inability to act on climate change, Danielle Vogel decided to start a grocery store for the specific purpose of improving the world’s climate, as she says, “one bite at a time.”