2021 has been a year of extreme weather events in Idaho. Among the worst and most unforgettable was an extreme heat wave.

In the Northwest, including British Columbia, a weather pattern known as a heat dome may have caused 1,400 deaths from the excessive warmth.

Aly Bean, climate campaign coordinator with the Idaho Conservation League, said scientists would typically expect an event like this to happen in the region once every thousand years.

"But climate scientists, after looking into the event and doing some modeling," said Bean, "recognized that this type of extreme heat event is 150 times more likely due to climate change."

Bean said there were other extreme events as well, such as a rise in toxic algae blooms. She also noted that extreme weather has effects on economic drivers like salmon, which came back to Idaho in extremely low numbers this year.

Idaho has also been experiencing one of its most severe droughts in history, which has impacted parts of the economy such as agriculture. Bean said the region is supposed to get more precipitation this winter from a weather pattern known as La Niña.

"If we don't get significantly higher snowpack from this La Nina," said Bean, "the drought from last year will continue for multiple years just because of that soil moisture dryness."

Wildfires once again raged in Idaho and across the West this year, too. But Bean said these events may have a silver lining.

"The really poor air quality index for such a sustained period of time and the huge number of wildfires," said Bean, "really brought attention to what we need to do to adapt for and take care of the health of those that are most vulnerable."

Bean said the state needs to decrease its carbon pollution, including through greater electrification of the transportation system. She also noted the need for changes to the agriculture sector, which is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in Idaho.

"Finding ways that we can work with farmers and ranchers and dairies to decrease methane emissions is really huge," said Bean. "Also finding ways within the agricultural sector that we can sequester carbon and remove it from the atmosphere will be helpful."

California has seen a lot of proposals to reduce carbon emissions; now a plan to scrub existing pollution is moving forward in the Legislature.

Assembly Bill 2649, which just passed the State Senate Environmental Quality Committee on Wednesday, sets a big goal: to remove 60 million metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere per year by 2030, all by harnessing nature.

Ellie Cohen, CEO of the Climate Center, a statewide advocacy group, said the plan to sequester more carbon in the ground will slow climate change and help the environment.

"It helps us to hold more water when it does rain," Cohen outlined. "It helps to replenish groundwater. It supports biodiversity, it supports food security, it helps ensure cleaner air, to get many, many co-benefits that help us to be more resilient."

Plants naturally remove carbon from the atmosphere using photosynthesis. Under the plan, the state would supercharge the effect by helping farmers spread compost on their fields and range lands, by restoring vegetation alongside streams, and by encouraging what's known as "blue carbon" by restoring coastal wetlands.

Asm. Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, a co-author of the bill, is especially enthusiastic about efforts to plant more trees in urban areas.

"So the trees would allow us to capture carbon, would help reduce the heat," Garcia explained. "But would also be a sound barrier, would also help capture pollution from all the trucks and cars."

At Wednesday's hearing, the Farm Bureau expressed opposition, saying the bill could present a burden to farmers and growers. The bill has already passed the state Assembly and now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee in August.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Members of Nevada's African American community say they're channeling the spirit of Juneteenth to fight for environmental justice.

Church-affiliated groups in Las Vegas hold monthly trainings on ways to fight climate change, promoting programs to make solar panels and electric appliances more affordable. The Rev. Leonard Jackson, director of the Faith Organizing Alliance in Nevada, said it's important that low-income Nevadans benefit from big projects, such as the electric vehicle-charging network.

"We want to make sure," he said, "that it is the underserved individuals that live in these communities, that they're the ones that receive the jobs, as far as installing this equipment, as far as maintaining this equipment."

He pointed out that communities of color often suffer the most from the effects of extreme heat and drought linked to climate change, as urban neighborhoods become heat islands, choked by air pollution from cars and trucks. So, Jackson welcomes efforts to subsidize electric vehicles and put more electric buses on the streets.

Utility companies offer programs to weatherize homes, help people use less water and switch from gas to electric appliances. But Dr. Mary House, chief executive of the Las Vegas faith-based nonprofit CHR Inc., said they need to spread the word at community events.

"People don't even understand these programs and the benefits of them. because they're not going into our community," she said. "Who's going to walk them through the steps? We don't see any of that being done."

Heather McTeer Toney, vice president for community engagement at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the African American community embodies resilience.

"We can link systemic problems of race and poverty to not only environmental concerns," she said, "but also how communities have both thrived and overcome in a number of those areas."

Almeta E. Cooper, national manager for health equity with the group Moms Clean Air Force, encourages Nevadans to get involved.

"We have many projects that, once an individual connects with us, we can empower you to go further," she said, "to connect with your elected officials, to tell them what you need in your community."

Wyomingites concerned about bigger and more frequent wildfires, prolonged drought, threats to clean air, water and wildlife can explore ways to combat climate change in their own community at the Wyoming Climate Summit this Saturday in Lander.

Ariel Greene, organizing committee member for the Summit, said the climate crisis is not a hypothetical future event. In the 20th century, Lander saw an average of 17 days a year with temperatures at 90 degrees or above. The past two years saw 44 days at 90 or above.

"So these changes are already here, and they are everywhere, and they affect us all," Green asserted. "And they will be dramatically intensified in coming years if we do not mitigate their cause, which is the emission of heat-trapping gases from certain kinds of human activity."

Members of the Wind River Reservation are joining the summit, to pass along Indigenous knowledge gained by living sustainably across the Mountain West for thousands of years. The summit is free and open to the public, and will feature an electric'car show including the new Ford Mustang Mach-E. Saturday's event kicks off at 9 a.m. at the Lander Community Center.

Wyoming, long dependent on fossil fuels for jobs and tax revenues, has opposed transitioning away from coal and other greenhouse-gas producing energy sources. But Greene argued the state is uniquely positioned to play a major role in the coming zero-emission economy. Wyoming ranks 6th nationally for untapped wind-energy potential.

"We're tied, I think, for the eighth-best solar resource in the country, ahead of Florida," Greene outlined. "We have a lot of potential for geothermal power and next-generation geothermal power. We have a lot of knowledge about how to dig deep holes in the ground."

Nearly six in 10 Wyoming residents understand climate change is happening, according to Yale University analysis.

Greene believes most people just need a few tips to start creating solutions in their hometown.

"People are concerned about climate change, but are not really active in doing anything about it, and maybe don't know what to do about it," Greene noted. "We're trying to educate them about ways they can get involved."