August 2024: Inside the Greenhouse

Extreme Heat: “The New Abnormal”

We have seen temperature records shattered around the world this summer, including the breaking of the world’s hottest day record multiple times in the same week in July. In a speech marking this development, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on the international community to act with urgency to stem the “extreme heat epidemic” driven by the climate crisis.

An estimated 70 percent of the global workforce – 2.4 billion people – are now at high risk of being exposed to extreme heat, especially in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Guterres noted that extreme heat fueled by climate change is expected to kill nearly half a million people a year, 30 times more than tropical cyclones.

The Secretary General’s warning should be a wake-up call for the international community. Thankfully, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is already working to deploy early warning extreme weather systems to help communities build resiliency to the impacts of climate change.

In 2022-2023, for example, USAID and NASA partnered with the Sahel region of Africa’s main meteorology center to extend forecasts from just a few days to a month, greatly increasing the time farmers and communities have to prepare for extreme weather events. This partnership has recently been scaled up by PlantVillage, a Penn State-based organization, to help approximately 20 million people access forecasts on TV and radio. We must urge our members of Congress to continue to support these life-saving efforts by fully funding international climate assistance in the FY25 federal budget bill.

FCNL Unveils Beautiful Artwork by Susan Stair at the Quaker Welcome Center

FCNL’s office is privileged to serve as the new home for a mosaic which is part 3 of Susan Stair’s collection “Ascending the Mountain.” This piece, “Canopy Celebration,” invites viewers to meditate on the importance of Earth’s forests and trees. In addition to their role in fostering rich, biodiverse ecosystems around the world, trees are crucial to protecting air quality, facilitating access to clean water, and shielding communities from the effects of extreme heat waves.

The sun in this piece signifies hope and renewal – the belief that a better and restored world is possible. This is exactly the message of hope and excitement we try to communicate to members of Congress when we urge them to address climate injustice.

We thank Susan for visiting FCNL to unveil this beautiful piece and thank the anonymous FCNL donor who made this gift possible! To learn more about this piece or Susan’s other works, please visit her website.

News and Updates

Climate Change Playing Larger Role in Western States’ Fire Season

Late last month, the Park Fire began burning in Butte County, California. A perfect storm of hot, dry, and windy conditions has allowed the blaze to explode in size and intensity. As of writing, the fire has grown to the fifth largest fire in California’s history; a milestone reached less than a week after its start. So far, the fire has scorched a total of 414,042 acres, triggering mandatory evacuation orders in Tehama County. Climate change has helped fuel the rapid growth of this blaze and threatens to spur further wildfires as western states expect another lengthy heatwave.