UNK Sustainability Committee, Sustain UNL host Climate Conversations

By JOSE PEREZ

For the past few years, one topic of discussion in the state of Nebraska and in this country has been climate change. This situation is so heavily recognized, several conferences have taken place in this country to address this ongoing conundrum. People gather in one area to go over climate change and what steps need to be completed for this topic.

In the state of Nebraska, more people need to be aware of climate change and how much of an impact it can truly have. The purpose of the climate conferences is to inform the public about this topic: what exactly is climate change? Afterwards, people discuss what changes need to be done in order for the state and planet as a whole to function well in the environment.

On March 30, UNK’s Sustainability Committee and Sustain UNL hosted the Nebraska Climate Conversations at the Ponderosa Room. The event was open to the public with prior registration, to inform everyone about climate changes and open up discussions to people during the event. It was an opportunity people took advantage of, to know what was happening on the planet and what needed to be accomplished.  

People attending the event were remined of what climate is. 

Climate is fairly similar to weather. When describing weather, it gives several descriptions of the environment for the outside world for several days. This information is shown to the public by simply looking up the weather on applications that can be used on almost any device. Climate is basically the same, only it gives a description of the environment that has been recorded from the last 30 years. 

Climate changes over time due to human activity that affects the carbon in the environment.Carbon is a molecule that traps heat. The heat is caused by the natural gas, oil, coal, and other substances that humans release to the atmosphere and waterways. Although we may not notice this, these types of activities effect any state and can continue to spread across the planet Earth.

According to the Nebraska Climate Assessment, the record yearly average temperature in Nebraska has risen by one-degree Fahrenheit since the year 1895. Nebraska is landlocked, meaning the state’s warming temperature has not been rapid and has not been as directly observable as other states in this country. It is typically the states near the equator that show the rise in temperatures.

This type of information is unlikely to pique a person’s interest. Unless people take an interest in the environment, almost no one will consider the climate change in Nebraska or any state to be relevant. However, that type of mentality is not recommended to have since the issue needs to be taken seriously. The climate conference was a platform used to motivate the people attending to act. Unlike previous years, this current generation has the opportunity to make a difference to act with the changing of climate and prevent less threats to the environment.

Several people attending the conferences shared ways to help out the environment: use less electricity in your homes, be less wasteful with food, plant your own food, reducing transportation emissions, etc. Moreover, people were told to simply share these ideas with everyone by using one of the most influential platforms in the world today, social media.