HISTORY 
Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project (EESP)

Edgewater was organized in the 1960's from neighborhoods that had been part of Rogers Park & Uptown. It was the 77th and last community so designated by Chicago. Edgewater (including Andersonville) has a culturally diverse population of 60,000+ residents in a mixed housing stock. 
​
​The founder of EESP, the Edgewater Community Council (ECC), played an important role in helping to stabilize and improve this dense urban neighborhood.   EESP began organizing in 2008 and launched in 2010.  It's project plan was a result of collaboration with neighbors, public officials, schools and other activists to work toward a model green community. To learn more about the project plan, its goals, timelines and achievements go to the Focus tab and check the ten target areas identified.   The strategy and focus of EESP is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changed needs. See below for information from NOAA on the current state of Global Warming. Local actions along with global change is needed to reverse the course.

 [*Edgewater is approximately 1 mile by 1.25 miles in size. Lake Michigan is the eastern border and the community then goes to west to Ravenswood Ave. Foster Ave. is the southern border and Devon Ave sets the north.]

EESP Awards and Recognition

2016 - 2019 Edgewater Historical Society

• ​Living Treasure Designation Awarded to EESP Members:  Tom Murphy (2016), Anne Comeau & Allen Stryczek (2017), Tricia Van Eck (2019)

2015

• Proclamation from the Ninety-Ninth Session of the State of Illinois to honor EESPs work toward a model green community

2012

• National Wildlife Federation - Thorndale Community Garden Certified as Wildlife Habitat

2011

• Friends of the Parks - EESP Community Development Award
• Keep Chicago Beautiful "Community Vision" Award
• Illinois State Senate Proclamation for Community Service

2010

• Chicago GREENWORKS Community Leadership Award 
• 7th State Senate District Community Leaders Award

---

___________
​HISTORY:
​Global Warming - Frequently Asked Questions (Courtesy NOAA Website 12-24-19)

 *What is global warming, and how is it different from climate change and climate variability?"
​Global warming" refers to an increase in Earth's annually averaged air temperature near the surface. Thermometer readings are collected from many thousands of weather stations around the world—over land and ocean—and then used to produce a global average temperature for each year. The resulting series of annual averages of global temperature from 1880 to 2012 show that Earth has warmed by 1.5°F (0.85°C).[1] Most of that warming has occurred since 1976.
"Climate change" is a broadly inclusive term that refers to a long-term (decades to centuries) change in any of a number of environmental conditions for a given place and time—such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, cloudiness, wind and air circulation patterns, etc. These oscillations and other similar phenomena can influence weather and climate patterns around the globe.
"Climate variability" refers to short-term (weeks to decades) changes in some of these same environmental conditions for a given place and time. Climate variability is often the result of natural oscillations in Earth's climate system — such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Pacific-North American Teleconnection Pattern, etc. These oscillations and other similar phenomena can influence weather and climate patterns around the globe.
*"If the globe is still warming, then why are some locations not warming while others have experienced cooling?"
The 1.5°F (0.85°C) warming is a change in the annual average temperature of the whole world.[1] This warming is not uniform over the entire globe; nor are temperature increases expected to occur continuously. Differences in exposure to sunlight, cloud cover, atmospheric circulation patterns, aerosol concentrations, atmospheric humidity, land surface cover, etc., vary from place to place. These differences influence whether and how much a location is warming or cooling.
​*"How strong is the scientific evidence that Earth is warming and that humans are the main cause?"
There is overwhelming scientific evidence that Earth is warming and a preponderance of scientific evidence that human activities are the main cause. Thousands of weather stations worldwide—over land and ocean—have been recording daily high and low temperatures for many decades and, in some locations, for more than a century. When different scientific and technical teams in different U.S. agencies (e.g., NOAA and NASA) and in other countries (e.g., the U.K.'s Hadley Centre) average these data together, essentially the same results are found: Earth's average surface temperature has risen by about 1.5°F (0.85°C) since 1880.[15]
The primary cause is that, over the last 200 years, human activities have added about 500 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, increasing the abundance of this heat-trapping gas by about 40 percent. Today, humans add about 70 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every day. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from about 278 parts per million (ppm) in 1800 to about 398 ppm today.[19]Today's carbon dioxide levels are unusually high; much higher than at any other time in the last 800,000 years. The warming influence of heat-trapping gases was recognized in the mid-1800s.[14]
Additionally, many other lines of evidence confirm that our world has warmed over multiple decades: Sea surface temperatures have increased.[2]
Air temperatures aloft are increasing, according to weather balloons and satellites.[2]
Birds are migrating earlier and their migration patterns are changing.[10]
Plants are blooming earlier in the spring.[10]
Fish species are migrating northward and toward cooler, deeper waters.[10]
Overall, glaciers are melting and spring snow cover is declining in the Northern Hemisphere.[2] Greenland's ice sheet—which holds about 8% of Earth's fresh water—is melting at an accelerating rate.[2]
Mean global sea level is rising.[2]
​Summertime Arctic sea ice is declining rapidly in both thickness and extent.[11]