The Basics of Climate Change: Science, Consequences, and Solutions

3 minute read

PAULA CHAMPAGNE AMC’s Lakes of the Clouds Hut in New Hampshire’s Presidential Range serves as a home base for some of AMC’s climate and air quality research in the White Mountains.

What is a greenhouse gas?

It’s freezing outside—how is the climate getting warmer?

I’m only one person. What can I possibly do to slow the effects of climate change?

Many of us have basic questions when it comes to understanding climate change. The science can be tricky, and misinformation—much of it deliberately spread by industries facing a reckoning for their role in a warming climate—abounds. With the help of leading scientists and researchers from AMC and elsewhere, we’ve published a series of articles over the last few years laying out the basics on why the climate crisis exists, how it threatens flora and fauna, forests and waters, and beaches and mountains of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, and why it’s important to take action. We hope you’ll partner with us in protecting the outdoor spaces we love from the harshest effects of climate change and use these resources to better understand the crisis we face.

JON LAVALLEY Emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide have risen steadily since the Industrial Revolution.

The Science

• Climate vs. weather: know the differences
• The causes of climate change
• 5 common climate change myths, debunked

PAULA CHAMPAGNE Stronger and more frequent storms are among the serious effects of climate change. Here, AMC staff and volunteer trail workers clear damage along Nineteen Mile Brook Trail from a powerful storm that hit New Hampshire’s White Mountains on Oct. 30, 2017.

The Consequences

• The effects of climate change, explained
• Consequences for the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic
• …on New England winters and New Hampshire’s ski industry
• …on alpine ecosystems
• …on Northeast moose populations
• …on black bears
• …on threatened and endangered flora and fauna

CHRIS SHANE Solar power is in full effect at AMC’s Medawisla Lodge and Cabins in Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness.

The Solutions

• AMC’s climate and air pollution work, past and present
• AMC is using carbon credits to combat climate change
• What your state is doing to combat the effects of climate change
• How cleaner transportation could curb greenhouse gas emissions
• 10 tips for a more sustainable lifestyle

What questions about climate change would you like us to address next? Let us know at amcpublications@outdoors.org.

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