Should we already be adjusting to climate change?

Climate change/global warming used to be a far away concern about how the sea level might rise in 100 years to the point that some cities are underwater. I've always been worried about it but seen it as less urgent than other issues.

However lately I've started to question that. I'm in Ohio and this winter has been very odd for us. It started off with frigid cold temps much earlier than usual which killed off many plants I was trying to overwinter. Then since the new year it has been freakishly mild. I don't think we've had more than a brief, light snow the entire time whereas usually the snow has just started to melt around this time. At least that's what I remember from childhood. But it seems snow is less and less common as the years go on. It's almost like the typical winter here is now characterized by more mild, snow-free conditions with the occasional cold spell. And of course the frequency of heat waves and droughts during summer seems to be increasing.

Sometimes I relegate it to the bipolar weather we have in the midwest. But I've also heard from people from the PNW, which is known for having a much more stable climate, how there have been unprecedented heatwaves the last two summers, one in 2021 which hit up to 118 degrees and devastated many crops in the region, apparently a freak event that only occurs once in 10,000 years. Does it seem like such freak events are becoming the norm or has it always been like this? Even the people who used to tell me they don't believe in climate change are starting to get freaked out.

If it really is this urgent of a concern, I wonder if we should be adjusting our rhythms to take it into account. Such as sowing a bit earlier than the traditional dates to take advantage of warmer temps early in the year, and utilizing more shade and heat-tolerant plants in the summer. An increase in instability is especially concerning, as agriculture itself was only made possible due to the stabilization of the climate approx 10,000 years ago. Sudden heat waves and cold spells might ruin an otherwise favorable season. Perhaps use of row covers and thick layers of mulch will become essential to protect against such events, as well as increasing plant diversity. As with many things, no one is going to save us from this, so we have to adapt somehow.

Not sure what I think about the relative impact of the activities of modern humans. But climate is bound to change with or without our activities. I’m in the PNW. In addition to the hotter drier summers, the past few winters have been colder, snowier, and lasted later into the year. I’m not sure how to be prepared for a plethora of unknowns.

I think about it like this.

You should be prepared.

Climate change is important I suppose but I am more concerned with weather.   I have tons of snow right now.  2 years ago it didn't rain or snow all winter, more or less. I thought I was prepared because I setup a little indoor grow room to start tomatoes, but we've been without power so that's a no-go. Last season my annual garden was hurting from too much heat and sun, so now I have some shade cloth I can run out if it gets like that again.

Not much you can do about the climate, but you can try to mitigate the weather.

I've done lots of reading about both human history and geological history and less consistent weather is something I am already trying to plan and prepare for.
May I suggest you read lots of the threads on this list: Dr Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
More resilient soil with healthy microbes and a good amount of carbon in it, may help plants survive what otherwise would kill them.

Gabe Brown is in a different ecosystem, but he's got some good info on mob-grazing and building soil. I recall there is someone else doing farming following similar principles in an ecosystem more similar to yours, but a) I'm Pacific wet-coast, so I maybe didn't pay enough attention to the particulars, and b) I'm poor at names at the best of times! However, Uncle G--gle is your friend!

I'd also do some reading in the biochar forum. In some ecosystems (mine at least), biochar can help with carbon levels and soil water retention and resilience. https://permies.com/f/190/biochar  However, if you go this route, please try to use waste stream material. My current source is a mixture of sawdust from a friend's mill layered with fir cones.

We're getting into "Cider Press" territory here. A topic like this can get pretty heated so I imagine it will be moved. I'm not saying it is a conversation that should not  have a place to talk about it but it requires those involved in the conversation to have a combination of apples and pie to get into the "Cider Press" I'm going to give you a piece of Pie but you're going to have to earn some apples on some content that isn't so political or have intense passions involved. The "Cider Press" has lively conversations and earning those apples usually shows that someone has proven to be a reasonable conversationalist, and has learned how to be nice in their posts.

Dan Fish wrote:I think about it like this.

You should be prepared.

Climate change is important I suppose but I am more concerned with weather.   I have tons of snow right now.  2 years ago it didn't rain or snow all winter, more or less. I thought I was prepared because I setup a little indoor grow room to start tomatoes, but we've been without power so that's a no-go. Last season my annual garden was hurting from too much heat and sun, so now I have some shade cloth I can run out if it gets like that again.

Not much you can do about the climate, but you can try to mitigate the weather.

To me climate is just the range of expectations of the weather. Like there's no way to know when the last snow of the season will occur, but here I expect it to be sometime from late March to mid April. If the climate is really changing I think that means we need to broaden our expectations to for example not be surprised at getting a winter with little to no snow or a snow storm when it's least expected, and be ready to act accordingly.

Robert Ray wrote:We're getting into "Cider Press" territory here. A topic like this can get pretty heated so I imagine it will be moved. I'm not saying it is a conversation that should not  have a place to talk about it but it requires those involved in the conversation to have a combination of apples and pie to get into the "Cider Press" I'm going to give you a piece of Pie but you're going to have to earn some apples on some content that isn't so political or have intense passions involved. The "Cider Press" has lively conversations and earning those apples usually shows that someone has proven to be a reasonable conversationalist, and has learned how to be nice in their posts.

I know this is a controversial topic so please move it if it belongs elsewhere. Of course everyone has different opinions on climate change, I was more meaning to ask what people have observed and how we might cope if climate instability ends up being more of a threat than anticipated.

Unfortunately Nate, we can't move this thread because you don't have enough apples. Threads like this attract trolls and that can easily result not only in huge amounts of work for moderators, but also hurt feelings all around.

To add to the reading list I suggested above, I will add this thread:
https://permies.com/t/209462/implemented-homestead-anticipation-extreme-weather

Have a look at the way people asked similar questions to yours in order to help keep the thread in the public forums. However, several people have had to edit their threads to meet our publishing standards: https://permies.com/t/17422/permies-publishing-standards

And just since you're still fairly new here, this link will take you to a page of all sorts of useful threads about things like posting videos etc.:
https://permies.com/w/how-permies-works

For now I will lock this thread. You will be able to read it, but no one will be able to add to it.