What’s New for January 2026
Dear Climate-Concerned Friends,
This year, we will host monthly public events at the Monmouth Senior Community Center on the evening of the second Thursday of every month, starting January 8. The first four events, called “Climate Cafés,” will focus on our emotional reactions to the climate situation (see below). Other events, to be announced, will feature speakers, films or topic-focused discussions. Please plan to join us, and bring a friend.
Fire Chief Ben Stange addresses community safety and climate change
He gave an engaging talk and led a good group discussion. At our December 18, 2025 event, the Chief of the Polk County Fire District No. 1, which includes Monmouth and Independence, addressed our Monmouth Senior-Community Center meeting on the topic of “Community Safety in the era of climate change.” The thrust of his message — illustrated with informative powerpoint graphs, photos and statistics — was that there has been a sharp uptick of climate exacerbated natural disasters since the turn of the century. Therefore, we should begin to take measures, including creating “defensible space” around our homes to reduce the risk of losing them to a fire in an wildland-urban-interface-zone (WUIZ), where human development meets forests or grasslands.
Other measures, such as the pros and cons of installing a siren to warn the community about nearby wildfires, floods and natural hazards were also discussed.
The Monmouth-Independence Climate Action wishes to once more thank Chief Stange for his contribution to this ongoing discussion.
New Climate Café series to focus on personal reactions to climate change
Climate Emotions Wheel © Climate Mental Health Network (Creative Commons License - non commercial public domain)
Building on the success of our October 16, 2025 Climate Café that focused on our emotional reactions to the climate problem, MICG plans a series of four such meeting beginning on January 8 of this year.
These, informal, guided discussion — with the look and feel of an actual cafe with table cloths and snacks — will provide a safe, welcoming space where community members can connect and share how they feel about the “too big to hold” climate challenge.In line with the quadrants of the Climate Emotions Wheel above, the first monthly discussion (January 8) will focus on fear engendered by climate hazards; followed by a focus on sadness (February 12); anger (March 12); and, in the spring, positivity (April 9.) Please join us to share your feelings and hear those of others.
Related: Climate Magic - A podcast on the psychological challenges of climate change. Sarah Jaquette Ray, author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to keep your cool on a warming planet hosts a podcast on how your feelings about the climate issue affect your agency to do something about it. The hour-long sessions with experts in many fields include topics such as “Neuroscience and hope,” “Apocalyptic Optimism,” “Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question,” and more.
Ongoing Activities
Monthly Zoom Meeting: Join our next regular Climate Group’s online meeting at 6:00 PM, Monday, January 12. These “business meetings” are is primarily about organization and task distribution for our various group activities. Since you are on this Newsletter’s mailing list, you should automatically receive a notice and link to the Zoom page a day or two before the meeting. If you don’t receive that, and want to attend, please send us an email we will send you the link.