00% Renewables photo shoot with members of Sierra Student Coalition. Wenona Kunesh second from left.
Editor's Note: Pulse environmental columnist Sandra Kurtz and Sierra Club Student Coalition youth reporter Wenona Kunesh are in Paris, attending the UN Climate Change Conference. They are filing periodic reports when they have a free moment.
Wenona’s Take
It’s getting easier to get around town. I was in charge of the Sierra Student Coalition booth for two hours. It was pretty busy. I got to talk to more than 10 people about who we are and what we want to change. That includes actions toward cleaning water, stopping flooding, and conserving wetlands. People seem to be very interested in what the Sierra Club has to offer.
I had a chance to also go to a panel presentation about oceans. A lady asked a question about what research projects she might do with her high school students to help them learn about climate change in the oceans. The panelists named some already done in the UK involving fish species movements.
Sandy’s Take
There was a large Google map display presented in the Climate Generations Hall. The program showed the visual impacts on cities derived from science-based projections if Earth temperature rises 4 degrees Celsius versus 2 degrees Celsius.
The climate scientist presenting the information emphasized that there was no time predicted in these projections. They might happen in 100 years or 2000. However, the rate of change and depth of water rise would depend on our actions now.
There was definitely a big difference between 4 degrees and the 2 degrees COP21 is shooting for. However, neither was good. The Washington and Jefferson Monuments looked like islands and the reflection pool had turned into a lake. In New York City, Wall Street was totally inundated with water.
Maybe that’s a good thing.
There is a lot of climate change information online with Google.