As a former climate diplomat and current Administrator of Howard County’s Office of Community Sustainability, Tim Lattimer will describe the Howard County government’s “whole of government” approach to implementing its new “Climate Forward” action plan. He will also discuss how we can bring “all hands on deck” to build a “whole of community” effort that ensures Howard County’s long-term leadership in tackling the climate crisis. 

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We will review evidence for climate change, mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, and what it means for changing weather patterns around the globe. We will see how warmer temperatures alter the status of native and non-native insects in our region. Learn how warmer temperatures affect arthropod abundance, distributions, seasonal phenology and interactions among plants, herbivores, and their natural enemies. 

This summer we’ve seen the escalating reality of climate change -- floods, wildfires and the hottest July in 120,000 years.  These huge impacts make it easy to fear that it’s already too late to turn this around.  That’s “climate doomism,” and not only does it make us feel terrible, it is absolutely unproductive.  What’s the antidote to climate doomism?  Climate action.  In this talk, you’ll learn how to determine which climate actions really make a difference and how to choose some that suit your interests and skills.  Using one of the most impactful climate actions, reducing food waste, I'll illustrate how you can act at home or in your community, as an educator or as an advocate.