People working together to face the challenges of the climate crisis on Cape Ann
Protecting what we love. Cape Ann Climate Coalition has action groups made up of local volunteers who are taking action on the climate. Anyone living in Essex, Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Rockport is welcome to join one of these groups.
Our coastal wetlands are vulnerable to effects of climate change. 
Solar panels supply power to Rockport’s Thacher Island. Image courtesy: Thacher Island Association 
Designing a road map to net-zero on Cape Ann. Wind energy powers Gloucester’s schools and municipal buildings. 
Promoting electric vehicles- a charging station in Manchester. 
Adapting for rising sea level in our coastal areas. Pictured: Long Beach in Rockport.
Upcoming Events & Calendar:
Events
Green Homes Tour:
Saturday, May 3
Seven home owners in both Hamilton and Wenham are providing tours of their Green Technologies such as solar panels, heat pumps, mini-splits, electric appliances, EV chargers, weatherization and more to educate others on their experiences including purchasing criteria, cost-savings, investments, rebates, energy efficiencies, and recommendations. Go to HWClimateAction.org to see what each home is showcasing and its location to plan your own self-guided tour.
Doom & Bloom Webinar/Workshop- May 7
Doom and Bloom is a free 2-hour webinar workshop on May 7 at 7-9 p.m. This workshop is designed to support attendees on how to transform climate grief and anxiety into empowered action. Register HERE.
Through guided reflection, journaling, and gentle group discussion, we’ll explore tools from ecophilosophers and climate anxiety professionals to work with difficult emotions like loss, numbness, and despair.
Lillian Worthley is the facilitator of the workshop, and owner of LW Strategies. She is a certified Grant Strategist focused on advancing climate action, and is a certified facilitator whose work centers on helping people build their resilience and ability to go forth in working towards a more sustainable future.
Gardening for Biodiversity with Native Plants: May 13th
Gardening For Biodiversity With Native Plants: Providing habitat for pollinators, birds and other essential wildlife, Tuesday, May 13th at 5pm at the Rockport Public Library. In this talk, Amy Meltzer will focus on the current biodiversity crisis; the evolutionary history among native plants, insects, birds and fungi, and how these interdependent relationships among diverse species are necessary for their survival. She will show how growing native plants and using ecological landscape practices can simultaneously reverse biodiversity loss, increase resilience in our landscapes, and slow climate change – all while creating a beautiful garden! This is sponsored by the Cape Ann Climate Coalition in partnership with Backyard Growers, Lanesville Community Center and Manship Artists in Residency. This is a free event.
Amy Meltzer is co-chair of the steering committee of the Mass Pollinator Network, is an active member of Grow Native Massachusetts, and is on the Research Team of Elders Climate Action. She has been researching and growing native plants for over twelve years.
Keeling Curve Graph that represents the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth’s atmosphere since 1958
Why this graph is important:
We have passed the maximum safe concentration level of carbon dioxide (350 parts per million) in the atmosphere. To avoid runaway climate destabilization and return to 350 parts per million we need to immediately stop all use of fossil fuels, and protect our natural systems that store carbon dioxide (forests, marshes, wetlands, seagrass beds, etc…) Technology capable of removing enough excess carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has not been developed. If you click on this graph it will give you a reading of the latest CO2 measurement in the atmosphere.