News articles on Climate Change

News Articles on Climate Change

Editors: Brandi-Marie Williams, Orianna Cotten, Jayden Levitsky, Lily Spooner, Chloe Munro 

Climate change has become a heavily-debated topic, due to its effects on our earth and us humans. It has become entrenched in the political landscape, which has brought it forward in new, highly-charged ways. In these articles, our authors describe the ways in which climate change affects people all over the world.

• "Venice: A Sinking City’s Struggle For Survival" by Mia Iaccino
• "Rivers of Ice" by Orianna Cotten
• "How NYC’s 2014 agenda has been accelerated by the failure of the Trump Administration" by Cameron Jefferson 
• "Women at the Front of Climate Action" by Lily Spooner 
• racism and climate migration by Marceline Barnes
• Links of interest

 

Venice: A Sinking City’s Struggle for Survival 

Mia Iaccino 

 

Venice, Italy, is well known for its connection to the water. The Venetian Lagoon can be found on Po plain and is connected through three inlets to the Adriatic Sea, the Lido, the Malamocco, and the Chioggia inlet (Lionello et al., 2021). The city sits right in the middle of this Lagoon. Venice, once stable in its design, is now facing the effects of climate change. 

 

What can start as a wonderful vacation to Italy can quickly turn into walking through water up to your knees in Venice. Imagine you find yourself wandering St. Mark's Square or the Gritti Palace, then all of a sudden, rushing water. Well, that was the case in 2019, according to The Guardian, Venice experienced its highest water levels in 50 years. The article stated that, “More than 85% of Venice was flooded, authorities said, including the historic St Mark’s basilica” (Henley and Giuffrida, 2019). The problem traces back to climate change; over the years, stronger weather systems have been moving through the Adriatic Sea and towards the Venetian Lagoon. This causes something called storm surge and sea level rise.  

 

Storm surge and sea level rise are two forces that now shape daily life in coastal cities like Venice. Storm surge happens when powerful winds from intense storms push seawater inland, sending sudden, fast-moving floods over sea walls and walkways. Sea level rise is a slower process, as oceans steadily expand and climb higher due to warming temperatures and melting ice. Together, these changes mean that even ordinary high tides can spill into the streets, and stronger storms bring far more destructive flooding than they once did. Both trends are driven by climate change, and in Venice, they're making each flooding event feel less like a rare emergency and more like a growing part of reality. These rising waters aren't the only concern. What’s happening beneath the city’s foundation is becoming just as important to understand. 

 

Now, you may have heard that Venice is sinking, and it’s true. The city is sinking 1-3 mm per year, while sea levels rise 4-5 mm per year (Zanchettin et al., 2021). This is an aggressive dynamic that is fighting against each other, the land sinking, and the water rising. The term is land subsidence, which means that Venice is actively sinking downwards over time. The city is built on top of a wooden base with wooden piles that dig deep down into the clay below the water. This worked for Venice for a long time, but with the constant saltwater intrusion and rising sea levels, the wood is starting to deteriorate and sink further downwards (Zanchettin et al., 2021). Have you ever found a piece of driftwood while you were at the beach? It typically shines smoothly and feels as light as a feather. Now imagine what wooden piles that have been sitting below Venice for years could turn into. With the city slowly sinking and the water levels steadily rising, Venice has been forced to search for solutions that can keep it above the tides. 

 

So how can we save Venice? The city has already tried to adapt to the flooding by developing a massive engineering project called the MOSE barrier in 2003. The project took about 18 years to complete (Umgiesser, 2020). The barrier will close when water levels reach 50cm of sea level rise, but when this happens, it is a financial strain for most of Venice. When closed, the barrier puts a pause on things like tour ships, trade, and holds the city captive. Visitors who previously docked their boats for a day are now required to stay for multiple days. Now they are faced with extra docking fees because they cannot remove the boat from the Lagoon.  

 

Lagoon restoration, rather than continuous barrier use, could help mitigate issues linked to storm surges, rising seas, and those financial strains tied to MOSE closures. As engineers search for long-term solutions, many researchers argue that strengthening the natural environment may be just as important as any mechanical barrier. This would require restoration of the salt marshes and possibly replanting seagrass so that the sediments become more stable, absorb wave energy, and possibly divert the sea levels away from the Lagoon (Tagliapierta and Sigovini, 2016). These natural buffers once protected Venice for centuries, and rebuilding them could create a more resilient system that works alongside MOSE instead of relying on it alone. 

 

By promoting the concept of ecotourism, citizens can start fundraising and informing the public of the safer ways to visit Venice. Limiting large ships and favoring smaller boats could help reduce pressure on the Lagoon. More programs need to be developed that teach the public how to be safe in the case of flash flooding. If you are visiting Venice and are concerned about flooding, check out Centro Previsioni e Segnalazioni Maree (Venice’s Tide Forecast and Alert System). This is the city's official system and you can find it in any app store! It is called Hi!Tide (Zanella, 2025). Within the app, you can see when floods are expected, and there is also access to a map of the majorly flooded areas. But, if you do not have a device that has access to this app, don’t you worry, there are sirens that will go off to alert the public when a flood is actively occurring. 

 

If Venice continues to rely only on the MOSE barrier, the city will face increasing financial and environmental pressures that it cannot manage alone. Long-term progress will require wider support from local residents, regional leaders, and national stakeholders, along with a commitment to ecological restoration and better public preparedness. These steps may not stop flooding entirely, but they can strengthen the Lagoon, reduce stress on the barrier system, and protect the people who live in or visit the city. Without this combined effort, Venice could become a powerful example of how climate change can overwhelm a community. 

 

References  

Centro Previsioni e Segnalazioni Maree. Comune di Venezia. (2025, November 3). https://www.comune.venezia.it/it/content/centro-previsioni-e-segnalazioni-maree  

Henley, J., & Giuffrida, A. (2019, November 13). Two people die as Venice floods at highest level in 50 years. The Guardian.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/13/waves-in-st-marks-square-as-venice-flooded-highest-tide-in-50-years 

 

Lionello, P., Nicholls, R. J., Umgiesser, G., and Zanchettin, D.: Venice flooding and sea level: past evolution, present issues, and future projections (introduction to the special issue), Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 2633–2641, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2633-2021, 2021 

 

Tagliapietra, D., & Sigovini, M. (2016). Protecting and restoring the salt marshes and seagrasses in the lagoon of Venice. In M. Canedo-Arguelles, S. Gascon, J. Sala, & J. Boix (Eds.), Management and restoration of Mediterranean coastal lagoons in Europe (pp. 47-60). Museu de la Meditterainia. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325038829_Management_and_restoration_of_Mediterranean_coastal_lagoons_in_Europe 

 

Zanchettin, D., Bruni, S., Raicich, F., Lionello, P., Adloff, F., Androsov, A., Antonioli, F., Artale, V., Carminati, E., Ferrarin, C., Fofonova, V., Nicholls, R. J., Rubinetti, S., Rubino, A., Sannino, G., Spada, G., Thiéblemont, R., Tsimplis, M., Umgiesser, G., Vignudelli, S., Wöppelmann, G., and Zerbini, S.: Sea-level rise in Venice: historic and future trends, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 2643–2678, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2643-2021, 2021. 

 

Zanella, F., 2025. Hi!Tide (1.0.2) (Mobile App) Apple Store, Google Play, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=venice.amphitrite https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hi-tide-venice/id469821030 

  

Rivers of Ice

Orianna Cotten

(To see photos, please open this copy.)

  

Imagine a river of ice that has existed for thousands, if not millions, of years, slowly moving over land, bit by bit eroding mountains and forming valleys. Imagine the ice within, first packed down before humans walked the earth, picking up sediment from long ago. Imagine snow, old enough that it has cushioned the feet of mammoths and saber tooth tigers, animals of the last Ice Age. Imagine it receding; that great, glorious river, ebbing and ebbing, never flowing. Now imagine realizing that its recession is partially due to an issue we have the power to slow.

This issue first struck me as I stood half a mile from the Matanuska Glacier in Glacier View, Alaska. It was in the middle of June; dwarf fireweed and vetch were blooming on the hills: a sea of amethyst flowers. The half-mile between the glacier and me, the terminal moraine, was entirely covered in rocks, silt, and water, with most of the glacier beneath that surface running deep into the ground. This expanse between the glacier and I did not strike me as strange in the least, as this was my first experience with a glacier. However, my aunt, an Alaskan resident for the last 20 years, opened my eyes to the reality of what we were facing.  

She spoke of when she had first seen the Matanuska glacier, decades before, and its face had been near enough for her to touch from the parking lot. Now, its face has receded significantly, and a long floating board walk has become our only means of reaching it.  

Understanding the anatomy of a glacier is crucial for the comprehension of various details throughout this article. To begin, the area in which snow and ice accumulates, causing the glacier to grow, is appropriately called the accumulation zone. The area at the end of the glacier, where melt-off occurs and ice mass is lost, is known as the ablation zone. The terminal moraine, defined in the U.S. National Park Service’s article “Alaska’s Shrinking Glaciers”, describes the rock and sediment left at the toe, or base, of the glacier as the glacier retreats.  

Within the past few decades, glacial recession has accelerated. This recession is caused by an imbalance between the rate of accumulation of snow and ice at the top of the glacier and the melt off at the ablation zone. When the melt off at the ablation zone exceeds the amount of accumulation, a glacier recedes.  

Unfortunately, this recession is largely caused by climate change, an issue we have contributed to exponentially. The burning of fossil fuels causes an increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause heat to become trapped in the atmosphere. With the temperature of both the air and ocean waters warming, glaciers melt from above and below, which causes them to recede much more rapidly than in previous years. Authors of the Icelandic website Perlan describe these issues along with a few other problems that accelerate Glacial recession in their article, “Glaciers Retreating Worldwide: What It Means for Our Future”. When glaciers melt, rock and sediments are revealed which—combined with pollution and black carbon deposits—cause the surfaces of glaciers to darken and retain heat. Although the surfaces of glaciers typically have high albedo—the ability to reflect heat—darkening surfaces reduce albedo, causing glaciers to absorb heat and melt more quickly.  

Before this trip, I hadn’t known anything about glacial recession other than basic facts—that melt off must surpass accumulation in order to cause recession—and I believed that melt off occurred primarily due to our heating planet. My experience with the Matanuska Glacier prompted me to research the details leading to the obvious glacial recession that had occurred in the short time between my aunt’s visits.  

Once we arrived at the glacier, that warm day in mid-June, we walked to a small station where we put on crampons—spikes slid over your boots for stability—and helmets. We gathered as a group, listening to our guide's rules and warnings regarding the glacier we were about to explore, and feeling the immensity of the experience.  

As we walked over the glacier, we saw glacial streams and moulins, shafts of meltwater that extend deep into the glacier that sometimes create whirlpools. Our guide explained how falling into one of them would result in certain death as most of them extended so deep into the glacier that they hadn’t yet found the bottom. It was awe-inspiring to imagine how these waterfalls and barely visible streams extended hundreds of meters beneath its surface.  

At one point, our guide instructed our group to split into two smaller groups to follow her up onto a small ledge that overlooked a small glacial lake. This lake was perfectly clear, the sediment and crevices beneath its surface as clear to us as the mountains that surrounded us that day. The blue of this lake could only be described as cerulean, a blue I’d never seen in any waters back home in New York. Though I wasn’t able to feel the waters, they looked cold enough to shock you and yet soft enough to glide over your skin like a breeze. It was mesmerizing.  

Naomi Klouda recalls a similar experience when walking upon her first glacier, the Matanuska Glacier, in her article, “Opinion: Snowfall, snowmelt, and Alaska’s shrinking glaciers”. She states, “To stand humbled before these ancient rivers of ice is to understand both our smallness and our outsized impact. The glaciers recede while we debate, their blue-white wisdom melting into streams that will never again know the weight of centuries.”  

As I sit here in northern New York, far from those magnificent rivers of ice, I feel complete sadness at the idea of their demise. Though there is no way to truly describe the wonder you feel when your eyes first land on a glacier, I urge you to take these descriptions and truly imagine yourself standing atop a glacier with mountains at your every side and flowers dotting the landscape. Close your eyes and smell the crisp coolness radiating off the surface ice, feel the striations on the glacier beneath your fingertips, see the blue of glacial lakes, hear the stillness of an area nearly untouched by mankind, and taste the sweet, crisp purity of glacial water. When you feel your heart begin aching for a world long gone, open your eyes and let that feeling settle upon your heart. After all, change can only be affected when people begin to care for our world. 

How NYC’s 2014 agenda has been accelerated by the failure of the Trump Administration 

Cameron Jefferson 

Mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, and his plan to challenge the climate crisis by renovating schools 

 500 nyc public schools, building 500 green schoolyards, and taking 50 schools, and turning them into resilience hubs  

McCurdy, Kara. On Tuesday, November 4th, NYC’s democratic socialist mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, made history as the first muslim to ever be elected as mayor. Mamdani beat Andrew Cuomo by a 9-point margin, managing to secure more than 50.4% of the vote. Mamdani ran on a campaign of affordability, in which he convinced a large number of New Yorkers to vote for him through his socialist policies, such as increasing taxes by 2% on the top 1% of New Yorkers. This would help fund the city by generating 4 billion dollars annually in revenue, which would then allow for the city to fund free public transit, free health care, affordable housing, and even something as foreign to Americans as city-owned grocery stores.  

With recent events over the past eight years in politics, many Americans are finding themselves wanting major change. And if Mamdani has his way, change is coming fast -- even in areas like climate, which aren't typically highlighted by a media too concerned with his religion and skin color to see the brilliance in his policies.  

Donald Trump's failure to fulfill alt-right promises on affordability.  

With the recent victory of presidential elect Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, many in the nation felt he and his aggressive far-right conservative policies would transform the nation and put it on a better trajectory. Donald Trump mainly ran on a ticket of affordability. His economic policy of tariffs attracted many to vote for him last year in November. Trump claimed that his tariffs would lower energy costs, and, like most conservatives, he promised to also cut regulations, so as to “protect” American industries.  

Trump also decommitted from a lot of pro-climate policies ever since he’s taken office, like withdrawing from the Paris-climate agreement his first day in office in 2017 and choosing to not attend the COP30 climate talks in Brazil in 2025. He has also repealed tax credits from the Biden administration for Solar and Wind power, putting emphasis on expanding oil and Fossil fuel projects. His administration has even gone so far as to propose rescinding the EPA’s famous 2009 Endangerment agreement. However, in the eyes of the American public, his promises have fallen completely flat, and in fact have made things worse. With his decline in support growing worse by the day, support for the Republican party and their core values are also taking a huge dip. This has opened the floodgates for candidates like Mamdani to not only run on affordability campaigns but also allows for them to push for heavy climate reform.  

NYC’s Climate Agenda  

On September 21, 2014, the former mayor of New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio, announced that NYC would commit to reducing carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050. Coined the 80x50 plan, it aims to help reduce global temperatures, following the 2015 Paris agreement. According to the Nyc climate dashboard, buildings, waste, and transportation are the main contributors to greenhouse gases being produced in NYC. As of 2023 buildings in NYC produce 36.67 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, waste producing 1.96 million metric tons, and transportation producing 12.59 million metric tons. These numbers are technically an improvement ever since NYC has been tracking the numbers since 2005. The city is currently not on track to meeting its 2050 goal of 80%. In fact the city’s not even on track to meet its interim goal of reducing carbon emissions by 40% by the year 2030, only showing an overall 17% decline in emissions since 2005. And while the city has passed laws such as the LL97 to help with the issue. It is clear to anyone with any insight on the topic, that more sweeping reforms and changes are needed if the city wants to reach its goal. And that's exactly where mayoral elect, Zohran Mamdani comes in. Mamdani’s green schools plan. While NYC is largely taking steps to addressing the climate crisis, even going after its biggest contributor, that being buildings. The city still largely has a problem with them, especially public school buildings that according to LL97 accounts for a whopping 32% of all the energy used by city buildings. The main issue with public school buildings is the fact that they consume most of the energy, yet still have very poor infrastructure. And if there's one thing that everyone can agree on, parent or not. Children need a safe, comfortable environment in order to produce results in school. Mamdani, along with various climate experts agree, and that's where his green schools plan comes in to fill the void that new yorkers have been left with for over a decade now. The mamdani administration plans to renovate 500 public school buildings, by removing things such as mold, asbestos, lead paint, and pipes. All things that have plagued these schools for decades. The Admin also plans to fix any roofs and windows in need of repairs, and upgrade HVAC systems. Upgrading HVAC systems is huge as a lot of NYC public schools have systems that are either outdated, or simply don’t work efficiently enough. I attended the Manhattan early college school for advertising, in downtown manhattan right next to city hall in fact. And one of the biggest complaints that us students had was the inconsistent temperature regulation. throughout the building. Some rooms would be freezing cold, and some would be too hot. This was due to not only the poor HVAC system in the building, but it was also a product of the very poor infrastructure. My old graphic design teacher had told me the reason his room was so cold was due to the room's temperature being determined by the temperature outside. So combine poor infrastructure, winter weather, and the doors being closed, trapping all of that cold air in the room. And you get students like myself needing to wear jackets to just educate themselves. Over the course of three years my school had never fixed the problem with its temperature regulation. So while I may not be a student there anymore, I look forward to seeing the changes Mamdani will supposedly bring to schools like it. Solar energy is something that's been all the talk for over a decade. Not only is it an extremely innovative energy source, but it’s also more efficient and produces significantly less greenhouse gases. According to a recent October report by Chalkbeat’s Seyma Bayrum. Only 126 schools in NYC have rooftop solar panels installed. Mamdani promises to change that. By installing more of them. This will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a significant amount, as solar panels generate 96% less than coal and 91% less than natural gas. We're all familiar with school pick-up/drop-off areas. Places where buses and cars either drop-off or pick-up children depending on the time of the day. As you know, vehicles are one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases being released into the air, polluting it. And during school pick-up/drop-off hours in NYC. These areas become highly concentrated with those same vehicles. This obviously pollutes the air in the surrounding area, making it unsafe for children. Especially for children with pre-existing conditions like asthma. NYC has done its best to address the problem, with the department of transportation announcing last year that the largest number of open streets at schools, numbering at 71, were being launched. However this program requires schools to apply for it, and doesn’t even give them the funding to do so. Mamdani promises to allocate $20 million to schools for assistance and automatically enroll all public schools instead of having the requirement that they apply. As most of you are aware, most school yards and outdoor environments aren’t made of greenspace. Instead, being made of asphalt. A popular material used for just about anything you could think of. Roads, runways, and playgrounds. And while it is effective for construction, one of the major issues with using the material is its very heat absorbent. This causes any form of construction made with the material to reach really high temperatures, which then causes the surrounding area to do the same, and worsen the air quality. Mamdani and his administration plan to solve this by replacing the asphalt with greenspaces across 500 public schools. His plan will also help to expand on an already existing project called the Community Schoolyards project which has already, according to their website, has built over 220+ green school yards in NYC. This will not only give children healthy environments to learn and play in. but will also give the public healthy spaces to organize for after school hours and breaks, when kids are out of school, something mamdani expresses he plans on pursuing. And he ensures to those worried about the safety of students. that he plans to hire groundskeepers in order to ensure that public access won’t compromise the well-being of the children. Along with his expansion of green school yards. The Mamdani administration plans to also expand on the building of green roofs. With this massive expansion of greenlands across schools, the following effects would occur. Reduction in temperature around NYC, less emissions, preventing floods, and better air quality. All changes, every New Yorker can agree will benefit us. Speaking of climate related crises. Something that's been all the rage across the country are these buildings called resilience hubs. Resilience hubs are community spaces that serve the public in times of need. Like floods, heat waves, and health crises. Any disruption to society you can think of. Resilience hubs cover. They provide resources and support services, while also giving communities a place to gather and organize, and mayor Mamdani, plans to create a total of 50 of them in NYC public schools. These resilience hubs will help the city better combat crises, providing safe spaces for the local communities most affected by them. Things like floods, overheating and power outages are something that affect communities of color the most. So by committing to the building of resilience hubs, Mamdani is also challenging the environmental racism that takes place in NYC. Which is something he has expressed to be very passionate about, being a minority himself. It's a large reason as to why he won the election. New York is a brewing pot of differing cultures, and backgrounds, yet we always find a way to come together and build community as best we can. Even if we tell people to mind their business most of the time. Job creation The Mamdani admin has estimated that his plans will generate an estimated 15,000 union jobs in which they will hire from within local communities. COSTS New Yorkers, wondering how much all of this is gonna cost. The Mamadani admin has highlighted as such on their Green Schools for a healthier New York City plan. The following numbers can be found directly from the memo. ● $726 million a year for HVAC and solar panel installation in 500 schools over four years; $2.87 billion total ● $315 million over 10 years to build 500 green schoolyards ● $62.5 million to build 50 resilience hubs ● $20 million a year to implement Open Streets for every NYC public school; $80 million first term ● Total cost: $3.27 billion over 10 years Any and all information on where the allocation of the funds will come from can also be found on the same memo. NYC is the largest city in the United States and is seen as one of the socioeconomic bedrocks of the country. One of the biggest criticisms of Mamdani and his plans for NYC is that his policies will cause all of the wealthier residents to leave NYC. It's one of the main reasons the Trump admin has come after Mamdani. A claim that holds little ground, but a criticism nonetheless. But the point I want to get across is that New York holds incredible influence, and its politics and views can determine the politics in other places around the country and potentially the world. Seeing a city as influential as New York take an even harder stance on climate will encourage others to do the same. And if others do the same as New York, we can all sleep soundly at night, knowing that we’ll have a better world in the future 

Women at the Front of Climate Action 

Lily Spooner 

On a cool fall morning in the North Country, the Grasse River winds through Canton, New York. Nearby, a group of residents gathers to plan their environmental efforts, serving a role in the town’s Sustainability Committee, river-monitoring programs, and land trust projects (Wheeler, 2024). Their local influence reflects a larger global trend of women driving powerful grassroots climate actions as well as renewing ecosystems.   

According to Katharine K. Wilkinson, co-editor of All We Can Save, empowering women is one of the most effective and overlooked strategies in addressing climate change. She explains that climate change acts as a “threat multiplier,” and she goes on to say, “Especially under conditions of poverty, women and girls face greater risk of displacement or death from extreme weather disasters” (Johnson & Wilkinson, 2020, pg. xviii). In her TED Talk, Wilkinson also argues that when women gain decision-making power and access to education, communities benefit and carbon emissions decrease as well (Wilkinson, 2019). This connection between empowerment and environmental progress sets the foundation for a lot of today’s climate leadership.  

A similar emphasis on community and collaborative climate action can be seen throughout All We Can Save, which highlights how pairing diverse voices and local leadership strengthens environmental solutions. The book includes examples of scientists restoring wetlands, activists defending and protecting Indigenous land rights, and community organizers building sustainable economies (Johnson & Wilkinson, 2020). Together, these stories show how climate action isn’t just technical: it is social, personal, and deeply connected to local communities.  

Women’s leadership has shaped global climate action for decades. Wangari Maathai, for example, founded Kenya’s Green Belt Movement, which planted more than 50 million trees while empowering thousands of women. Her work earned her the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for connecting environmental restoration with social justice (The Nobel Prize, 2011). Her leadership shows how addressing climate change can strengthen both ecosystems and communities.  

Younger women have also transformed public conversations about climate change. Greta Thunberg, for example, became a global symbol of youth activism after her 2019 U.N. Climate Action Summit speech, where she criticized world leaders for failing to protect future generations. Her words and message helped inspire millions of students across the world to join the September 20 global climate strike, demanding stronger climate policies (NPR, 2019; Weise, 2019). Greta Thunberg is a symbol of hope and courage for the younger generations.   

However, climate leadership spans generations. According to the article, “Women Over 50 Are Leading On Climate Action,” older women are one of the fastest-growing groups in environmental advocacy. Concerned for their grandchildren and the future of the communities they call home, many are motivated to lead recycling projects, advocate for clean energy, and participate in sustainability committees (Townsend, 2024). Their experience and community ties bring strength to local climate efforts.  

This trend can be seen in Canton, NY. The town’s local Sustainability Committee is tracking how many residents install heating systems, join community solar programs, or purchase electric vehicles. According to North Country Public Radio, this data helps Canton apply for clean energy grants and shows how individual efforts contribute to collective, bigger progress (Wheeler, 2024). The work in Canton, NY shows how local climate leadership depends on people showing up every day.  

These stories share a clear message that climate change isn’t just a science, government, or policy issue, it is a human issue. In her TED Talk, Katharine K. Wilkinson highlights that only 0.2% of philanthropic funds are specifically for women and the environment (Wilkinson, 2019). This gap shows why centering women's voices matter. When women’s voices are included and heard, climate solutions become stronger, more inclusive, and more connected to local needs.  

References  

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, & Wilkinson, K. K. (2020). All we can save: Truth, courage, & solutions for the climate crisis. One World.  

NPR. (2019, September 23). Transcript: Greta Thunberg’s Speech at the U.N. Climate Action Summit. Npr.org. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763452863/transcript-greta-thunbergs-speech-at-the-u-n-climate-action-summit  

The Nobel Prize. (2011). The Nobel Peace Prize 2004. NobelPrize.org. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2004/maathai/facts/  

Townsend, S. (2024, November 14). Women Over 50 Are Leading on Climate Action. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/solitairetownsend/2024/11/14/women-leading-on-climate-action-who-are-over-50-years-old/  

TED. (2019, February 15). How empowering women and girls can help stop global warming | Katharine Wilkinson. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXlJEcrinwg  

Weise, E. (2019, September 19). “It’s our future that’s at stake”: US students plan to skip school Friday to fight climate “emergency.” USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/19/climate-strike-us-students-skip-school-fight-climate-change/2368349001/  

Wheeler, C. (2024, July 9). Canton’s Sustainability Committee is tracking clean energy actions. NCPR; North Country Public Radio. https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/50098/20240709/canton-s-sustainability-committee-is-tracking-clean-energy-actions 

 

MARCELINE HERE