good morning. >> hello, i am pat lawson muse. earlier thisee w on earth day news4 kicked off a new initiative called changing climate.in maboch.dr. edward welcome. >> thank you. >> what is your main mission? >> at our center for climate change communication, we do two things. firstly we do research to understand what the k publicws about climate change, and what do they think they know that isn't true, because climate change is a very serious problem and it's important the public is informed about the nature of the problem. the other thing we do is once w have a good information about

what information members of the public don't have we try to build public education programs to share that information with them. >> you released a report about the public's concern with global warming. >> we have been tracking public unrstanding about climate change for 11 years now, and the poll weon ccted last december shows the public is rapidly coming to understand climate change is real and it's human caused and serious, and more than ever they are coming to embrace a whole serie of climate solutions. all of a sudden particularly over the past five years there seems to be a real awakening in america, perhaps over the last year. >> the science is settled, right? >> there's no scientific debate

about the climate change being real, and the debate is what is the best path forward for us as individual, families and for the communities and america as a nation, and those are legitimate topics of debate. >> what are some of the ways climate change is impacting us that live in dmv? >> i will point to the top five impacts, and my colleagues have done this research recently that has sho here in our area, the changes are sea level rise, the seas are ring not only because of ice that is melting but because we are on a tectonic plate tipping downwards, so we are sking at the same time the oceans are rising and that's

creating a real problem for us. i live in maryland, and we are having more sunny day flooding, much less flooding on extreme rainy days. the second type of impact are heavy rainstorms. i believe over the past 60 years we have had 50% more extreme, rainstorms the 1% most extreme rainstorms have increased by 50% in the last 60 years. as we all know, when you get a lot of rain you get a lot of flooding and problems. >> we can all do something, and it's impting our families, our wallets, our health. what can individuals do other than recycle? >> right. that's such a good question. there are many things we can do, but i think it's important that if we choose to do things we should do important things and one of the most important things we can do is we can essentially

start buying clean ergy, maybe we can put solar panels on our roof, and that doesn't work for everybody, but for people in d.c. and maryland, we buy into community solarec proj, and i subscribe to one in washington, and i use my electrical bill to create clean energy and not use dirty energy. the real nice thing about it is it lowered my monthly utility cost. that's one thing anybody can do no matter where they live in an apartment or single family dwelling. >> that's exactly right. a few moref examples o what to do, essentially one of the easiest things we can do is we can eat less meat. >> we talked about meatless mondays. >> yeah, you don't have to go

meat free, butne go o day a week or cut the serving size of your beef, but the thing we can did is let our elected officials know that we expect them to take climate change seriously, because it's not a joking business. >> all right. you just made your case and we have o charge. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you, pat. next, how one local county is pitching in. we'll be right back. you know when you're at ross and you find that perfect spring dress at that "oh, yeah" price? yes! th's yes for less. score the latest spring dresses at 20% to 60% off department store prices, every day. at ross. yes for less.

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were talking about buying into community solar groups. a what the impacts of a climate change, the main impacts on our health? >> that is such an important question because most of us understand that climate change is bad for polar bears, right, we see that poor polar bear holding on to the poll, but it's harming our health, and as a whole, as the climate changes and we get morero dange extreme weather, that weather is also dangerous, extreme wind homes and people get hurt, and home get flooded and that's how climate change harms our health directly. >> that's an economic impact? >> yeah, our health and well-being and economics are

closely connected, and things damage our homes and community infrastructure that costs us a lot. anot way in which climate change is harming our health is through the fact that as the climate changes it changes t ecosystems we live in which creates opportunities for essentially bugs, i will say, mosquito, ticks and rodents, and they move to areas and bring the new diseases to us. >> like the kissing bug. >> i don't know about that. i >> carries a bad bug. >> and lyme disease is something that has just moved across -- up the coast and across the country over the past couple of decades as a result of e change in climate. >> you talked about some things that we can do. what are other importa things, even if they are minor things,

and i mentioned recycling, which many do, and they are cutting eack on recycling programs because they ar expensive. >> recycling is terrific, but most peoplean do is, we can fly less. i am required to fly around the country to meet with people, and more and more i would like to meet with you by telephone or skype or videor conference rathe than flying out to meet you, because for me, the amount of foss fossil fuels i am using is tied to how much i fly, so that's ong thin am personally doing, and flying less buys me more time and piece of mind in my life. >> so travel uses energy? >> traveling by train. >> yeah, that also uses energy, and flying happens to be energy

intensive. >> for those who say, okay, it sounds like something we need ti do, buts going to be incredibly expensive. you say we cannot afford not to make changes. >> right. it used to be the case that clean energy, if you did not take into account the ways in which it was harming our climate and health, fossil fuel energy used to be cheaper and that's not the case. clean energy is now pretty much on a deep declining cost curve, in other words, it's becoming less and less expensive with each passing month, so let's switch to a clean renewable future, and it's actuallycr ibly affordable. the sooner we make the switch the sooner we start making money. >> thank you ain. >> my pleasure. when we come back, a program

in prince georges county that is helping to change the climate.

we're talking this morning about climate change, and we are talking to ierim director. and nbc 4 and actutelemundore teaming up for part of a larger county initiative called growing green with pride beautification day, and tell us about that. >> the county has been struggling with litter problems for decades, and we have h cleanups every year and we have acrews that go outnd pick up

the litter, but what we have not done is make a real effort to change people's behavior, and the beautification being launched is doi just that, and there are two major parts to it. the first is by cleaning up your room at home, and clean up you room and county crews and state crews are going to go all over the county to clean up the litter. may 4th, growing green with pride, we will have 2,000 volunteers all over the community picking up litter followed by a picnic in the park in the afternoon. this is the beginning of addressing peoples', behavior cleaning up the room. p>> cleaning is very important to the environment. how are some of e services you provide directly related t slowi

slowi slowing climate change? >> one isg reducin greenhouse reductions, and the third highest impact on greenhouse gas reductions is methane from landfills, and that comes from food waste. and we are recycling 60 million pounds of foot waste a year, and we are about ready to launch a new food waste expansion program offering services to citizens on monday where they can take their food a wastes it will be picked up by the county hallean that will be turned into compost that we sell for a profit. >> what is one of your biggest concerns for climate change?

>> weather patterns. the storms are fiercer, and they are lonngr lasti and the impact and greater, and the issue with our country is the water runs nth to south and ends up in areas that does not necessarily have good ability to absorb that wat bause they were built close to the water table. we have seen a lot of flooding and we ar thinking flooding and drainage problems are going to continue unless we get ahead of them. >> and prince george have recycling programs and these programs are becoming expensive, and som have stopped recycling glass. you are still recycling glass, right? >> yes, it'sll ground up and we use it as part of the road cover, so we use that glass 100% when it comes into us. >> what can each person do to contribute to the flowing slowi

climate change? >> planting a tree is a great way to do that. a tree absorbs greenhouse emissions, and watch out how much food you waste, and food goes into the garbage and it gets tossed in the landfill, and beeful the way you live, plant a tree and eat less food. >> meatless mondays is something we have talked about, so there's a lot to this. >> yes. >> good to know there are so many things happening. >> thank you. and then one community and how it is making an impact on the climate h and ourlth. we will be right back. dale's little girl is heading to college.

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a garden to brighten up a corner of the community. that's what oasis garden and farm is doing isar myland. joining us, pastor whitaker, and also joining us is a parent engagementss atant at hillcrest heights elementary. welcome all of you. pastor, this is our second year with a bed in oasis. >> it's great. first of all, it'sreat to have you here and there at the site. we have so many folks joining us. we have new schools coming onboard, and we have other schools that are involved as well and so we have more people in the community signing up now to be part of the education so we can eat healthy and live better. liv >> there are 26 beds? >> 26 beds now and they are gorgeously set up, and we

continue to modify them and make them more effective and adding new things, new water barrel beds, and all kinds of things. it's a site that has been transformed and it's great. >> we were recently there with the two of you, and this is your first year bringing students.as why w it so important for you to get them involved? >> one of the things is in my first grade classroom we read a lot o stories about raising plants and one of the stories we read was about a mystery vine plant and i had the kids to plant a seed and i told them you have to watch to see what the seed is, and i had them to decide what kind of plan the it was going to be, and they said, what is it? we will have to wait and see. it will be a surprise. just before spring break, they

were able to see it come up, and so we had the different names written, and they said i thought i had a vegetable, and i id, no, you have a flower, and we. had carrots >> i know it's exciting for them to see things grow out of the dirt, and they were so exc ed where we have video of the kids digging innd they dug up the weeds and planted their veggies. >> that's right. again, my role is just to have our students engaged with parents, and it was a great opportunity and great experience for them, andou can see there, we have o first grade students also, our pta parents were there as well as my son, and so again, just being able to share and provide our students with such an experience where they can see

these vegetables grow, you know, the process and the progress, and -- >> this is progthss. is your bed. >> wow. >> look at that. we have not been out there. we were on spring break, but that's amazing. they will be so excited. we are super happy about this opportunity that we have been rovided with within our neighborhood. >> pastor, this particular area in temple hihills, tis very important there. >> yeah, this area, this immediate area, 8,000 folks or so there's no place for them to get healthy choes offood, and there's a lot of fast-food places, and so being a food desert where you cannot find affordable healthy foods,his is a prime location trying to bring redemption, so to sak, how to be trained and eat healthier, and it starts at a young age and we all need to do that >> the idea is to change, you

know, eating habits and food culture, but how much of a challenge is it to teach children at school at what may or may not be practical to practice at home? >> one of the things, our principal -- we went toer and said this is something we want to do at the school to help them to learn,nd ient with the fifth graders and i got to see what weit need to do food, and one of the things i said to the kids, how can i we do here, what is it that we can do, and they were really excited, and it's teaching them just what proper eating is. >> they will take that home. >> they will take that home. most definitely. >> i know you want to start a garden at the school and what do you nee to make that happen? >> thas right. right now my experiences have

been to go out into the community, seek out donations, and right w nowe have three confirmed donations for our rden bed, so our goal is t obtain five -- build five on may 18th, and so we definitely need help and some assistance, if our community businesses that live in hillcrest heights, if they can reach out to me over at the school i will be happy to provide more information. >> before we go, it's anrganic garden that helps the environment, and there's a stream that runs along it and you are trying to protect it? >> yeah, people were stomping on the ground and it was crazy, and this was go into the stream and all t pollutants, and so by growing an organic garden, we op that. >> thank you all, and i will see

you at the garden. >> thank you, and you c log on to nbcwashington.comnd click on community for more of our programs. i am pat lawson muse. thank you for watching. ed alrir

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"news 4 today" ss now. vigil overnight for the victims of the latest attack on a house ofaworship. gunman opened fire on a southern california synagogue on the last day o passover. police have a suspect in custody. now they're trying to figure out his motive. plus, some terrifying moments in seattle. a construction crane comes d crashingn on to traffic, cars were crushed. at least four people are dead. and we're waking u to some rain on this sunday morning. but how long will these showers stick around. > a busy sunday morning for you. thank you so much for being here .ith i'm adam tuss. >> i'm