It’s been a long, hot summer. Not only did the coronavirus pandemic seem to slow time down with people forced indoors, but record heat waves hit Central New York hard as well. So if you found yourself feeling hot when you went outdoors, socially distanced of course, you were right to think something was up. This July was the hottest in 141 years in the Northern hemisphere. Here in CNY, Syracuse broke a heat record that stood for over 60 years as this July was the hottest it’s ever been since records began in 1902.
Syracuse also came close to breaking another heat record when it recorded 43 straight days of temperatures over 80 degrees. There was also a seven-day stretch where the temperature was over 90 degrees. Both stretches missed decades-old records by just one day. This kind of heat is typically seen in areas further south like Philadelphia.
The month of August hasn’t been that much different either. Temperatures have been above 90 degrees about 16 times this summer. That’s not normal as Syracuse usually averages about nine days of 90+ degree weather a year. It’s no wonder that June was also one of the driest CNY has had in 26 years.
However, when there was precipitation it came down hard. Tropical storms Fay and Isaias both hit New York this summer, with Isaias being especially damaging to the state. Fay hit New York during July as a bit of relief to the summer heat, while Isaias arrived later in August with more extensive damage. On its path, Isaias spawned multiple tornadoes, knocked out power for millions of residents, and flooded many homes.
One of the key effects of climate change is an increase in severe weather events. Heavy precipitation, extreme high and low temperatures, and drought conditions are just some of the effects that climate change has on the weather. Some of these effects may ring a bell because they’re becoming more frequent here in CNY. If the world continues with business as usual, the records of this summer will be smashed in a short time.
For the residents of CNY, the concern may be with toxic algae blooms. A hot summer paired with intense rain can wash dangerous chemicals like phosphorus into lakes. The phosphorus feeds the algae and causes them to bloom. Algae produce dangerous chemicals that can make people sick, damage sources of clean water, and create dead zones in lakes that hurt the local ecosystem.
What’s likely to follow this hot summer is a warm fall. It’s a worrying trend as global temperatures continue to rise and establish a different kind of normal. The weather in Upstate New York should not be the same as it is in Philadelphia. Similarly, the tropical storms that make their way up to New York will only grow stronger each year. Storms like Isaias will cause extensive damage when they hit and the after-effects like algae blooms will cause even more damage.
So while CNY continues to fight COVID-19, the unusually warm summer should be a reminder of the climate problems that still exist.
From a young age, Sonia Kragh understood the importance of living an environmentally conscious life. Her parents and grandparents instilled good habits like turning off the water when you brush your teeth, taking short showers, and turning off the lights when she left a room. Those habits helped Kragh understand the importance of protecting the environment and led her to CCAA.
At the beginning of 2020, Kragh began her journey on the CNY Carbon Challenge. Kragh lives with her husband and her 26-year old daughter, so they had to make changes that fit both lifestyles. The first step was trying to find out what her carbon footprint was and how she could reduce it.
“I thought that was really instructional, just to go through that item by item and see how you measure up compared to others,” Kragh said.
When she was working through her carbon footprint Kragh realized that there are so many things, like clothing and furniture, that she never expected would have an impact. While her footprint for clothing was low, it made Kragh think about how fast fashion and the materials used in clothing have quite a large impact on the environment. Similarly, she was surprised to see that emissions from her family’s meat intake were higher than she expected despite them being “halfway vegetarian.”
But she said her family’s biggest footprint was airline travel. Like many Americans, Kragh has family members scattered throughout the country, with her parents in Kentucky, a sister in Idaho, and her second daughter in San Diego. To spend time with them during holidays or important events, she needs to fly there. Kragh and her family have also traveled to places like New Zealand and the Galapagos, to experience nature’s beauty there.
From left to right: Sonia Kragh with her daughter Sonia, husband Sri, and daughter Lexie at their home in DeWitt.
With all her flying, Kragh faces a dilemma that many Americans share. Should individuals shoulder the blame for going to see their families or taking vacations, and as a result increase global carbon emissions? The world has yet to answer that question, but the way Kragh sees it the airline industry has to accept responsibility as well.
“Well, am I going to stop doing that (flying), or are we going to ask the airline industries to step it up and ask them to do it differently?” Kragh said. “So I think that I also became more conscious of that this is an individual task, but leads to asking for change from the manufacturing side and the supply side, not just the consumer side.”
The effects of climate change have long been apparent to Kragh. Her husband’s family is from Bangalore, India and her in-laws have gotten sick because the city struggles with air pollution. She’s seen hurricanes and stronger storms creep up the Eastern seaboard and into CNY. As a skier, Kragh noticed that the conditions have worsened since she and her family moved to DeWitt in 1996. But the biggest change Kragh has seen is at Glacier National Park in Montana.
“It to me was visibly different and going from one visit to the next, and again you shouldn’t be able to see changes in glaciers in your lifetime,” Kragh said. “I’m glad I brought my girls because I don’t know if they’ll ever see these again.”
While working through the Carbon Challenge, Kragh has considered switching to electric cars. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it easier for her family to reduce their mileage because of social distancing and stay-at-home orders. In the future, she hopes that the government continues to invest in charging stations so that her family can take the same road trips they used to with new electric cars.
Kragh’s family also keeps its furnace in good condition but will look to replace it with a more efficient option once the furnace has run its course. Previously, she never knew what vampire electricity was and what effect it had on her footprint, but with the information from the Carbon Challenge, she was able to cut down on that unnecessary electricity usage. Even before the Carbon Challenge, Kragh had solar panels installed and switched to LED lights in her home.
With all the changes she’s made in her home and to her lifestyle, Kragh still emphasizes the importance of informing others on the impact of climate change. Whether it’s talking to her dad, informing people in the various organizations she’s a part of, or lobbying to local school districts to take some responsibility, Kragh understands that it will take collective action from individuals and organizations to fight climate change. In her experience, the most important part of the Carbon Challenge was learning new ways to reduce your footprint, and Kragh hopes that others take the challenge to learn something new too.
Climate Change Awareness & Action (CCAA) was formed for the purpose of educating others and actively working towards reversing the anthropogenic climate disruption that threatens the earth.
It is imperative that we increase awareness and spur action on climate change:
to support fair and just public policies and legislation
to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
to support regenerative agriculture and conservation
CCAA seeks to create a community of people working together in CNY to bring about the changes we need to avoid an environmental crisis.
NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE
Editor: Gaurav Shetty Publisher: Yvonne Chu Chair: Peter Wirth
UPCOMING EVENTS
CCAA holds its monthly meetings on the second Tuesday of every month. If you’d like to learn more feel free to email cc.awareness.action@gmail.com.
For an even more comprehensive list of events pertaining to sustainability and climate change, contact Diane Brandli with GreeningUSA to subscribe to the GreeningUSA listserve or to publicize an event you are organizing. dbdesigninteriors@verizon.net
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
If you are interested in working on the issue of climate change, please contact us at cc.awareness.action@gmail.com or call at 315-308-0846. Don’t worry about your skill level. We are all learning. We need people who can:
