Climate change is here. Now what? 

Climate change is already here: just look around you.To keep global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees above the preindustrial norm — as called for in the Paris Agreement — emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, according to the United Nations. But for a brief period in November 2023, data from the European Copernicus Climate Change Service indicate that global temperatures passed the two-degree threshold, a benchmark that scientists warn could lead to catastrophic consequences.What can we do — any of us — in the face of potentially devastating global change?“I started thinking about what I can do to protect my family and my home. It doesn’t take long for you to realize that it’s not the wrong scale; you can’t climate-proof your house,” says Binghamton University Associate Professor of Economics Andreas Pape. “On the other hand, thinking about the scale of the world is overwhelming; anything I can do is a drop in the bucket on a world scale.”But not when it comes to the local community.Enter Binghamton 2 Degrees, an initiative Pape began with English Professor Leslie Heywood to prepare both the campus and the surrounding community for the realities of climate change. Rooted in Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, the initiative encompasses the arts. and humanities as well as the STEM fields for a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach. It’s now University-wide, with participation across Binghamton’s schools.The initiative kicked off in the summer of 2023 with a community arts festival in the City of Binghamton’s Confluence Park. Since then, multiple events have followed on campus and in the community, organized according to monthly themes. The initiative also serves as a locus for Binghamton professors to share meaningful research and has sparked additional research trajectories around climate resilience.“It’s very much an action research project; we are part of making the change,” says Environmental Studies Professor Pamela Mischen, the University’s chief sustainability officer. “I hope we’ll be able to work with our partners over the coming years to make this community more adaptive and resilient to climate change.”Climate resilience involves facing and answering an ever-expanding series of uncomfortable questions: What are the local community resources for renewable energy, such as wind or solar? How can Binghamton — which has already endured several episodes of catastrophic flooding since the turn of the century — prepare for future natural disasters? Can local farms and food distribution networks diversify to ensure food security?In addition to a $10,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the initiative has applied for funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, Mischen says.The focus on preparation and the project’s interdisciplinary nature appeals to School of Management Associa