CHARLOTTE, N. C. – A Mecklenburg County community air-pollution monitoring project is highlighting how housing discrimination affects the health of predominantly African-American residents.

For the past three years, people living in Charlotte's West End have been using sensors that measure air-pollution in real time. As part of the AirKeepers program, they've discovered spikes in air pollution after such events as rush-hour traffic, construction and street paving.

Resident Ronald Ross says historically, African-American neighborhoods in Charlotte were concentrated on the west side of town, close to railroad lines and factories. Now, these neighborhoods are wedged between major highways and industrial zoning.

"Our communities are experiencing lots of interactions with COPD, asthma, heart disease and so forth, and a lot of that is caused through the air that we're breathing," says Ross, who is president of the Northwood Estates Community Organization.

Living in areas with poor air quality has been linked to chronic health conditions – from asthma and allergies to mental-health issues – and among pregnant women, it has been associated with birth defects, premature births and miscarriages.

West End residents now are petitioning for the city to reduce vehicle emissions in the area, tighten air-quality permitting and zoning for businesses, and plant more trees.

Calvin Cupini, program manager at Clean Air Carolina – the nonprofit organization spearheading the citizen science project – says the problem is statewide.

According to Cupini, the state doesn't have enough stationary air-pollution monitors to measure air quality in every neighborhood or rural area. He points to the portable sensors, which are connected to a smartphone app, as a way for communities to collect data that can help residents make informed decisions.

"The traditional paradigms are waning away, and that would be the existing structures of things like the EPA," Cupini explains. "And its opportunities to actually intervene in these cases is diminishing, either for political reasons or just resources."

Clean Air Carolina is now working with the Environmental Protection Agency to put similar, low-cost air-pollution sensors in the hands of other communities, with the goal of having at least one air monitor in every North Carolina county by year's end.

DULUTH, Minn. - As Minnesota looks to address the impact of climate change on the region, land managers and policymakers are reminded of the role nature can play. They're being urged to use a new tool that shows the range in which forests can capture and store carbon emissions.

In recent years, The Nature Conservancy has offered an interactive online map that shows which lands are more resilient to climate change. Now, that same tool can show which areas are well-suited to absorb carbon-dioxide floating through the atmosphere.

The Climate Change Director for The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota - Meredith Cornett - said Minnesota's forests are capable of removing 487 million metric tons of C02 over the next 30 years.

"That's a number that may not mean a lot to a lot of us," said Cornett. "So we have something called a carbon dioxide - an emissions equivalency. So that is equivalent of 3.6 million cars. "

She said taking the equivalent of those gas-powered cars off the road each year can only happen if the forests remain in their current form.

The group says potential roadblocks include wildfires and forest management that doesn't prioritize ecological thinning and prescribed burning.

Minnesota's forest cover has gone from more than 30 million acres down to 17 million over the past 150 years. But the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' State Forest Action plan notes there's been an uptick in acreage over the past decade.

Cornett applauded some of the progress in planting seedlings in forests after they've been harvested, including climate-resilient species. But she said Minnesota can't afford to slow down.

"We will need to really ramp up nursery production and wild-seed collection in order to make that possible," said Cornett.

She referred to a specific goal from the group that calls for one million acres in reforestation in Minnesota by the year 2040.

As the for the carbon tool, the Nature Conservancy says it can measure "capture potential" on lands as small as one quarter of an acre, adding that could be helpful for policymakers as they develop conservation plans.

SANTA FE, N.M. - A nonpartisan group of mothers and climate scientists is on a nationwide education campaign to engage more people about the effects of climate change and actions they can take to make a difference.

Colorado State University atmospheric science researcher Mellisa Burt co-founded the group "Science Moms." She said from the day they're born, parents want to protect their children, and the warming climate is now a direct threat to them.

"The goal of 'Science Moms' is to educate, inspire and empower moms," said Burt, "so that they have the climate change information and the resources that they need, so they can understand and feel comfortable sharing and having conversations around climate change."

During Climate Week, September 20 through 26, organizers will encourage businesses, governments and others to fulfill and increase their climate commitments.

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report earlier this year signaled a "code red" alert for humankind, from widespread extreme weather events, and cited controlling methane emissions as one solution.

In a survey by the Potential Energy Coalition, more than 60% of Americans describe themselves as "concerned" or "very concerned" about climate change, but only 14% say they regularly talk about it.

Coalition CEO John Marshall says his 17-year-old son convinced him to get more involved.

"A lot of these conversations happen around the kitchen table or the dining room table," said Marshall. "And a lot of us are experiencing the need to act on behalf of, and in response, to our kids."

Climate change is simple to understand according to Burt, and the effects are now difficult to avoid.

"The more that we burn fossil fuels, the more carbon pollution we're putting into the atmosphere," said Burt. "We're creating a thicker blanket of carbon pollution around our earth. And as that blanket continues to get thicker our planet is getting warmer and warmer. And as a result of that, we're seeing more wildfires, more floods, more hurricanes."

Last week, 10 New Mexico environmental groups and 62 others sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency calling for new regulations to limit emissions from fossil fuel development.

In addition, President Joe Biden has solicited a pledge from world leaders to cut methane emissions ahead of a climate change summit next month.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Three New Hampshire professors are among those who've signed a letter urging the United Nations General Assembly to adopt what's known as the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

More than 2,000 scientists and academics say the treaty, which would be a binding agreement, could help move forward on the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Professor Pam Jordan, who teaches politics and global affairs at Southern New Hampshire University, said that with the U.N. General Assembly now meeting, global leaders should take strong action.

"This treaty would seek to end the expansion of coal, oil and gas industries, phase out fossil fuels in an incremental way that can be measured, and then support a transition to renewable energy sources that would address the needs of people worldwide," she said.

Recent polling shows more than 60% of likely New Hampshire voters support clean-energy investments at the national level, such as those in the budget being negotiated in Congress. The letter noted that this global treaty would work to constrain the fossil-fuel supply.

Jordan added that with the recent U.N. report calling climate change a "Code Red for humanity," limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is crucial to stop the most catastrophic effeccts - which she notes would disproportionately fall on developing countries. She said the Paris Climate Accords set important goals, and it's time to take the next step.

"It's not just a voluntary kind of report the countries are putting out," she said, "but they're working with oil and gas companies to eliminate oil and gas and coal, and then start developing renewables in a more systematic way."

She said it's not clear whether the U.N. will take up the treaty, and if it does, there will be a process of officially adopting it and having nations ratify and sign it.