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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/

Forecasters Predict Powerful El Nino To Bring Rain To The Dry West

By Molly Peterson

Published August 13, 2015 at 4:16 PM EDT

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

In all likelihood, El Nino will bring rain to at least parts of a very dry California. That's according to forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They've just released updated predictions for the weather system. From member station KPCC, Molly Peterson reports.

MOLLY PETERSON, BYLINE: All signs are pointing to a wet winter for at least part of California, says the deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, Mike Halpert.

MIKE HALPERT: What's new this month is we're predicting that this El Nino could be among the strongest El Ninos in the historical record dating back to 1950.

PETERSON: Halpert says surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean along the equator are more than 3 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.

HALPERT: A value that we've only recorded three times in the last 65 years.

PETERSON: During the last time, the winter of 1997 to '98, Southern California saw double its usual amount of rain. Rivers throughout the state fattened to flood stages, mud slides caused more than half a billion dollars in damage and officials reported 17 storm-related deaths.

More than rain, what matters to California water managers is the potential snowfall in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. That snowfall feeds reservoirs and rivers, the major sources of water for the state. Jeanine Jones, deputy drought manager for the Department of Water Resources, remains skeptical that El Nino will affect Northern California's snowpack.

JEANINE JONES: You see a very wide spread in those individual model results that really conveys some of the uncertainty associated with making these forecasts.

PETERSON: Even under the best-case scenario, it's unlikely enough snow will fall in the Sierra Nevada to bust the drought, according to Kevin Werner, who directs NOAA's Western Regional Climate Services.

KEVIN WERNER: We'd need something in excess of the wettest year on record to balance the four-year deficit.

PETERSON: The top water regulator in California, Felicia Marcus, isn't holding out hope.

FELICIA MARCUS: We got over hope as a strategy last year.

PETERSON: California officials are not changing the state's strict limits on water use based on this forecast. For NPR News, I'm Molly Peterson in Los Angeles. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.