An environmentalist, John Shepard has lived with his family in Tucson, Arizona, since 1995 . His work takes him throughout the American West and Northwest Mexico, giving him a first-hand look at how climate change is impacting the region’s landscapes and communities.
A climate conversation for the Colorado River basin
As a professional conservationist, I work with a number of groups tackling some of the difficult climate-related challenges we face in the West. One of these groups is Carpe Diem…
Climate change and the current drought in the Southwest
I often get asked whether the current drought in the Southwest is caused by climate change. It’s a good question, but a hard one to answer succinctly. I generally respond…
Climate change: a business risk we can’t ignore
On January 14th, a national coalition of business and political leaders assessing the economic risks of climate change announced the co-chairs who will lead this assessment. The group includes a…
Looking back in order to go forward on climate change
A recently-published book tracing the history of climate in the West offers some interesting insights about how one could frame a conversation around climate change. B. Lynn Ingram and Frances…
A gettysburg address for climate change?
The recent coverage of the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address got me thinking, could there ever be a Gettysburg Address on climate change? No doubt, there’s a lot that…
Bringing climate change home
Recently, I was listening to a climate advocate recount her experience at a community workshop she had attended in Arizona on the topic of drought. The organizers were happy to…
Arizona: the bull’s-eye of climate change
On the heels of the recent released report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of University of Arizona climate experts came together to discuss the report’s implications…
The start of one Climate Conversation
The impetus for this blog was a conversation I had with my wife, Carol, about climate change. Our most recent conversation was triggered by a piece on NPR’s This American…
An introduction to Climate Conversation
As an environmentalist, I have a keen interest in the ongoing public conversation about climate change, but I have often been frustrated by the tone and substance of the conversation.…
Follow Us!