Climate change could potentially have effects on several areas of everyday life, including local trees. The Carmel Green Initiative will explore this effect during a sustainable living seminar called Climate Change: Impact on our Trees at 6:30 p.m. May 16 at the Carmel Clay Public Library.
The discussion will be led by Kevin Daugherty of the Carmel Urban Forestry Committee and Dr. Songlin Fei, co-leading author of the Indiana Climate Change Impact Assessment Forestry Report and professor in the Dept. of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue.
“We’re appointed by the mayor, so we’re an adjunct to the city, but really we’re just a citizen committee involved in a particular area,” Daugherty said. “We are there to promote the presence, growth and care of trees and to educate residents. I will be discussing what Carmel residents can do to protect their trees and landscaping and what the city is doing to protect its trees.”
Fei will give an update on the predicted state of Indiana’s forests in the future because of climate change.
“This is the first comprehensive assessment about climate change in Indiana that touches most of the sectors,” he said. “It will be two reports. One is on climate impact on forests and the other is on urban green infrastructure.”
Fei believes the past is a good indicator of what could occur in the future.
“Climate change will have a significant impact,” Fei said. “We have evidence in the form of 30 years of actual data measurements showing how the climate has impacted the forests in Indiana and surrounding states. We are in a state where quite a few minds are still not believing in climate change, so showing actual data is a good predictor.”
The event is free to attend. To RSVP visit carmelgreen.org.
