Tag: Weather

7 Things to Do to Help Others in a Blizzard

Posted on by robbie

As a blizzard bears down on the East Coast, resist the urge to curl up under the covers until the snow stops falling. Thanks to Winter Storm Stella, you now have hours of free time at your disposal. Use them wisely: help out others.
Here’s how to make your snow day count.
 
THE BASICS
You’ve heard this advice before, but it bears repeating.

  • Clear your sidewalk every couple of hours. Dig out a path that’s at least four feet wide. Your neighbor will appreciate being able to walk his dog without trudging through snow up to his knees. (Your back will also thank you.)
  • Look out for the elderly, disabled and homebound. Grab your shovel and remove the snow and ice from their sidewalks and driveways.
  • Check on your neighbors. Shoveling snow is particularly strenuous. Occasionally peek out and make sure they’re safe while clearing their driveway.
  • Don’t put yourself (or others) at risk. Download your utility’s app (most companies have one) and use it to report any outages or downed trees or power lines. Report non-emergencies to 311.
  • Know what to do with the white stuff. Clean off your car in your own driveway, making sure to sweep all the snow from its roof. Don’t throw snow into the roadway or into crosswalks and dig out fire hydrants and pedestrian ramps.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY SERVICES
As local budgets continue to feel the pinch, funding for EMS and fire departments is drying up. Contact your local 911 crew and show your appreciation for their life-saving work by finding out what resources they’re in need of.
CHOOSE A PERSONAL PROJECT
Instead of binge-watching Netflix all day long, commit two hours towards identifying a cause to support. Then, take action to help the homeless, eliminate food waste, protect immigrants or support wounded veterans.
 

Here’s the Difference Between Weather and Climate

Posted on by robbie

As we’ve said before, there’s really no debate whether or not climate change is real. Despite the scientific consensus, however, some people still aren’t quite convinced that the planet is getting hotter. “If global warming is real,” a climate-skeptic might wonder, “why was I huddled under blankets until March?”
Well, if you watch this video from National Geographic, astrophysicist and Cosmos host Neil deGrasse Tyson elegantly shuts down that argument in two minutes.
With the help of an enthusiastic dog, he illustrates that weather and climate change are measured in completely ways.
MORE: These Scientists Were Fed Up with Climate Change Deniers. Here’s What They Did About It
“Here’s the difference between weather and climate,” Tyson says as he and his furry friend walk along the beach. “Weather is what the atmosphere does in the short term, day to day. Climate is the long-term average of the weather over a number of years.” He points out that dog’s restless wandering represents the daily fluctuation of weather, while he, walking in a steady forward pace, is the long-term trend of climate.
“Weather is hard to predict, like my friend here,” he says about the wandering pup. “But climate is predictable. Climate has changed many times in the long history of the Earth — but always in response to a global force.” By the way, that “force” is the increase in carbon dioxide from our burning of fossil fuels.
ALSO: Would Your State Survive a Climate Change Catastrophe?
We explained in a previous post that as we continue driving our cars and burning fuel at factories and power plants, CO2 gets released into the atmosphere as “blocks” like in the game of Tetris (also known as the greenhouse effect). And just like the video game, if we can’t clear up these CO2 blocks, they’ll just build up faster and faster until it’s game over.
It’s a bit doomsday, but it’s the hard truth. But we suppose climate-skeptics don’t need to worry about the future of the planet in its fight against climate change. After all, as Tyson said, the earth will survive — only we won’t.
[ph]

How Shoveling a Little Snow Is Doing Big Things to Make This Community Better

Posted on by robbie

A winter wonderland can be a beautiful backdrop for the holiday season. But when it snows, ‘tis also the season for major issues of senior safety across the nation. As the temperature falls, injury risk for older people climbs. Joseph Porcelli’s Boston Snow Crew fights back against a big piece of that risk by using online tools to connect older, ill, and disabled people with volunteers to shovel their walkways and driveways. Porcelli’s idea started as a local project but quickly spread into a far-ranging network, and the effort to make safety a little bit easier has turned into a major community-building initiative. Neighbors who were strangers are now better connected, building “extremely profound relationships on both sides of the equation,” as one leader reports. “What’s so nice about it is that it’s easy,” said one participant. “When you make it easy for people to do the right thing, things get done.”