Two major state and federal grants announced this week will help launch phase two of a Martha’s Vineyard climate change planning initiative and stem Island food insecurity during the ongoing pandemic.

Islanders need to get ready now for the effects of global climate change, Oak Bluffs conservation agent Liz Durkee told an attentive audience at the town library Saturday afternoon. “The seas are going to rise. We are an Island community,” Ms. Durkee said.

When a major hurricane or other disaster strikes Martha’s Vineyard, people who need help right away can’t count on getting it from first responders, the emergency management director for West Tisbury said in a talk Saturday.

It is not the old guard leading the local climate activism charge.

• Climate Action Network

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

The lively discussion around water management at West Tisbury’s recent town meeting is a forecast of more difficult challenges to come as the Vineyard feels the growing impact of a changing climate.