The Nature Conservancy in Ohio

Listen to Nelson "Bud" Talbott, a trustee from Ohio, describe why working to combat greenhouse gas emissions is critical to The Nature Conservancy's mission.

What Ohio Can Expect

Climate change will alter landscapes and seascapes as we know them. Among the changes scientists believe may occur:

• An increase in summer drought stress to river and lake habitats
• A decrease in the number of cool water fish species
• A drop in lake and river levels.
• Wetlands drying up, due to decreased surface water recharge
• A shift of hardwoods out of southern Ohio

What You Can Do

Travel light. Walk or bike instead of driving a car. In the United States, automobiles produce over 20 percent of total carbon emissions. Walk or bike and you’ll save one pound of carbon for every mile you travel.

See the light. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs. You will save 100 pounds of carbon for each incandescent bulb you replace with a compact fluorescent.

Plant native trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and use it as their energy source, producing oxygen for us to breathe. A tree that shades a house can reduce the energy required to run the air conditioner and save an additional 200 to 2,000 pounds of carbon over its lifetime.

Act globally, eat locally. Tthe food you buy may travel in a plane from the other side of the world. Shop at a local farmers’ markets and you can help save our climate.

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report which highlights and adds an exclamation point to the news that most conservation scientists accepted long ago: the Earth’s climate is changing, and it’s because of human activity.

Specifically, the IPCC – a group of scientists convened by the United Nations – reported unequivocally the following findings:

Human activities have increased greenhouse gases to their highest level in the atmosphere in 650,000 years, outweighing all other factors in causing global warming;
Global temperatures have risen to their warmest level in 500 to 1,000 years;
Climate change is causing more extreme weather events, such as severe storms and droughts; and
Climate change threatens ecosystems and human-well being.

That last point, that climate change poses one of the greatest threats to people and nature, is a reality that has worried The Nature Conservancy for many years.

After more than five decades of using our science-driven selection process to conseve some of the world’s finest plant and animal habitat, the Conservancy now faces the knowledge that the places we protect may one day no longer harbor the species they were designed to.

The Conservancy is fighting back. With the help of our partners and using the best available science, we’re tackling climate change in three ways:

We are mobilizing governments to enact legislation that addresses the causes of climate change.
We are working to create global incentives to reduce deforestation emissions through policy and partnerships.
We are analyzing the impacts of global warming and seek ing innovative conservation solutions that will enable natural areas to cope with and adapt to what may be unavoidable effects of climate change.

In addition to efforts to establish U.S. and international climate change policies, the Conservancy is addressing climate change at more than 20 sites in 10 countries. By taking action now we can avert the extreme impacts of climate change.

WHAT'S YOUR CLIMATE IMPACT?
SEE HOW FORESTS CAN HELP CURB CLIMATE CHANGE