Longmont Museum presents virtual series covering climate change

From historic droughts and wildfires, recent air quality scandals, unwanted dam expansion, rapid development, and population growth, Colorado is facing both challenges and opportunities in the management of the state’s natural resources in light of climate change.

The Longmont Museum is tackling these tough topics with a week-long virtual program to discuss these big issues facing our environment. The Climate Change series will examine climate change, its impact, and potential solutions.

“From floods to fires, these topics hit close to home for everyone on the Front Range,” said Museum Director Kim Manajek. “It’s vital that we all take an active interest in our planet’s future and learn what we can do as individuals today.”

The series, which is called “The Big Picture Climate Change Series: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water,” will feature panels, lectures, and conversations with local scientists and other experts.

Co-presented by KGNU Community Radio and Sustainable Resilient Longmont, the virtual series is co-curated by Justin Veach, manager of the Longmont Museum’s Stewart Auditorium, and Susan Moran, journalist and co-host of KGNU’s“How on Earth.” Moran will also help moderate the four panels.

“We are experiencing the warmest years on record,” said Moran. “Carbon dioxide levels continue to climb. More powerful storms and mega-wildfires are raging. What we are learning about these vast and shifting realms is both scary and encouraging. We curated this series to move the conversation forward, to inform ourselves, and to empower us all to think globally and act locally.”

Speaking to some of the local issues, Mark Guttridge, owner of Ollin Farms, will be a guest panelist on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. for the “Earth: Grounds for Innovation” discussion. Last year, Ollin Farms received one of seven 2020 Sustainable Food and Agricultural Funds agricultural land grantstoOllin family farm.rehabilitate about 125 acres of Boulder County land near the

Guttridge, who manages Ollin Farms along with his wife Kena, also works as an environmental consultant. The family farm, which got its start selling produce to Niwot Market, now provides the local community with fresh vegetables at the Longmont Farmers Market, their seasonal farm stand at Ollin Farms, and through the sale of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares to individuals and families.

Guttridge will be joined by panelists Atreyee Bhattacharya, a civil environmental and architectural engineering faculty member at CU Boulder; Keith Paustian, a senior research scientist at CSU’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory; and Alice Madden who works at the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment at CU Boulder.

The panel will be talking about various topics related to soil, soil health, and land-use practices in ranching and farming. Issues linked to climate change such as erosion caused by rising sea levels, loss of soil moisture and desertification, and the release of CO2 from thawing permafrost will be tied into the history and science of land-use practices and how scientists, farmers, and ranchers, among others, are advancing healthier human-land relationships. The panel also will highlight how, through practices like regenerative agriculture and composting, agriculture is part of the climate-change solution and can dramatically reduce the food-waste crisis.

In addition to “Earth: Grounds for Innovation,” the three other panels will each focus on a specific category of environmental impact in Colorado – fire, air, and water.

After the 2020 Calwood Fire, which burned 10,106 acres and was the largest fire recorded in Boulder County, wildfires may be at the forefront of many people’s concerns, but recent events have also highlighted the need for air and water to be on Coloradoans’ minds as well.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is currently under fire for allegedly ignoring clean air standardsto issue new permits. According to a complaint filed by whistleblowers within the agency, state air pollution control managers unlawfully approved noxious gas permits for industry without federally-mandated modeling or monitoring.

Despite recent snow, as of March 30, according to the United States Drought Monitor, most of Colorado is reported to be in a state of moderate to severe drought, with cases of extreme to exceptional drought on the Western Slope. This report comes as Colorado and other Western states renegotiate the 1922 Colorado River Water Compact. This compact, which expires in 2026, governs the historic water rights, laws, and policies that distribute the water of the Colorado River to tens of millions of people and agricultural lands around the Colorado River Basin.

Though these climate change issues are global and can be daunting in scope, the Longmont Musuem’s series aims to not only educate but also to help move the conversation forward and empower individuals to “think globally and act locally.”

For more information on the speakers and topics, visit bit.ly/Climate-Change-Series. The programs are free to watch and can be viewed live at facebook.com/LongmontMuseum, LongmontPublicMedia.org, and Local Comcast Channel 8/880.

The series will be followed by Sustainable Resilient Longmont’s annual Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 24. The day’s events will focus on youth and education from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The celebration will conclude with a special bilingual conversation on the subject of equity and climate change from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., co-presented with the Museum and the City of Longmont’s Equitable Climate Action Team. Learn more at www.srlongmont.org.