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WVPE is your gateway to green and sustainable resources in Michiana. Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This is accomplished by finding a balance between businesses, the environment, and our society (people, planet, and profit).State, National and International resources on sustainability include:The Environmental Protection AgencyThe Natural StepSustainability Dictionary45 Sustainability Resources You Need to Know Explore ways to support sustainability in the Michiana area through the Green Links Directory.Sept. 17, 2019 from 2-3:30pm"Global Warming: A Hot Topic"Sept. 17, 19, 24, and 26All sessions are from 2-3:30pmGreencroft Goshen Community Center in the Jennings Auditorium1820 Greencroft Blvd.Goshen, IN 46526The event will look at possible solutions and suffering as well as consequences beyond warmer weather. The event will examine what other civilizations have or haven’t done when faced with environmental problems. Plus there will be an exploration of the biggest unknown in the climate system: What will the humans do? Paul Meyer Reimer teaches physics, math and climate change at Goshen College. The events are presented by the Lifelong Learning Institute. The Institute can be reached at: (574) 536-8244lifelonglearning@live.comhttp://life-learn.org/

This Red Oak Tree Has Its Own Twitter And It Shares Insight About Climate Change

Published August 14, 2019 at 5:32 PM EDT

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Deep in the Harvard Forest of Massachusetts lives a towering red oak tree. It's no different from its neighbors except for the fact that it tweets.

LYNDA MAPES: It is actually the tree talking to us. All we're doing is translating, giving it a voice.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Lynda Mapes is a reporter for The Seattle Times and author of a book called "Witness Tree." It's a deep dive into the life of this particular red oak.

MAPES: My connection with this big oak tree is very intimate. I started visiting it when I was a science fellow at MIT. And then I moved in; married the tree, really.

CHANG: Mapes worked alongside scientists in the Harvard Forest for a year to better understand how climate change affects this tree. She lived right next door in a farmhouse.

KELLY: And her work inspired two researchers at Harvard University. They were the ones who installed sensors around the tree to measure things such as soil moisture, sap output and temperature. The sensors send that data to a computer program, which automatically analyzes it and tweets about it.

TIM RADEMACHER: If it's a very warm day, it will compare the daily temperature to all of the days in the past that we have data for. And it will put out a message saying, it was the 24th hottest day that I can remember.

CHANG: That is Tim Rademacher, the researcher who created the software. The tree is capable of tweeting about hundreds of conditions.

RADEMACHER: I thought it would be so much nicer to actually give the tree a proper voice and translate the data to reach a broader audience.

KELLY: Clarisse Hart is also on the team. She hopes the project will teach people about climate and environmental change.

CLARISSE HART: Considering the perspective of another organism is such an important thing for all of us to do. It's what's going to make the world better, ultimately.

CHANG: And Tim Rademacher will not stop until every tree can share data.

RADEMACHER: I dream of an Internet of trees. The hope is that you can follow your local tree. And it doesn't have to be trees, you know? It could be other things that tweet. It could be a mountain.

KELLY: In the meantime, you can follow @awitnesstree on Twitter today.

(SOUNDBITE OF OWEN PALLETT SONG, "DON'T STOP") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.