If we are prudent and act now, we still have time to reduce, manage, and adapt to the risks of climate change.

• How It Works.
  Causes. Greenhouse gas emissions trap excess heat in the earth’s atmosphere. They have many sources, but a disproportionate amount comes from burning fossil fuels for electricity generation and transportation. Emissions also result from poor land use practices, such as overtilling and deforestation.
  
  Effects on weather. When the climate warms, the weather changes. Scientists estimate that the earth’s average temperature will rise between 4-7° Fahrenheit this century. A warmer earth is generally less able to regulate temperature shifts, so weather patterns become more extreme.
  
  In particular, the hydrologic cycle intensifies. Droughts become more severe, while rainstorms and floods become longer, more intense, and increasingly occur out of season. Evapotranspiration could increase up to 30%.
  
  Effects on people. When climate and weather change, the environment changes, and humans feel the shock. Increased disease vectors, wildland fire frequency and intensity, sea level rise, species extinction and the loss of biodiversity, rising food and energy prices, water shortages, national security problems, etc. - these impacts affect everyone, but agricultural economies are vulnerable in special ways. 
  
  
• What We Can Do.
  Question. Some of these changes are already underway. Others are still projections based on climate models. Many everyday citizens insist that other worrisome changes are occurring, even though science has not yet demonstrated that their observations are connected to global warming.
  
  Prepare. Based on everyday common sense and the scientific evidence, it makes sense to be careful. Even if we can’t stop some of these forces, we should still try – but we should prepare for the unexpected as well. Many details of climate change are still uncertain (such as timing, scale, and regional variations), but the trends are unmistakable.
  
  Act. We need to fight climate change by -

• lowering human-generated GHG emissions
• eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels
• developing renewable energy
• becoming more energy efficient 
• using land and natural resources in a sustainable manner
  
• and consuming less energy in the first place.