  This White Paper is a call to action for astronomers to respond to climate
change with a large structural transition within our profession. Many
astronomers are deeply concerned about climate change and act upon it in their
personal and professional lives, and many organizations within astronomy have
incorporated incremental changes. We need a collective impact model to better
network and grow our efforts so that we can achieve results that are on the
scale appropriate to address climate change at the necessary level indicated by
scientific research; e.g., becoming carbon neutral by 2050. We need to
implement strategies within two primary drivers of our field: (1) Education and
Outreach, and (2) Research Practices and Infrastructure. (1) In the classroom
and through public talks, astronomers reach a large audience. Astronomy is
closely connected to the science of climate change, and it is arguably the most
important topic we include in our curriculum. Due to misinformation and
disinformation, climate change communication is different than for other areas
of science. We therefore need to expand our communication and implement
effective strategies, for which there is now a considerable body of research.
(2) On a per-person basis astronomers have an outsized carbon impact. There are
numerous ways we can reduce our footprint; e.g., in the design and operation of
telescope facilities and in the optimization and reduction of travel.
Fortunately, many of these solutions are win-win scenarios, e.g., increasing
the online presence of conferences will reduce the carbon footprint while
increasing participation, especially for astronomers working with fewer
financial resources. Astronomers have an obligation to act on climate change in
every way possible, and we need to do it now. In this White Paper, we outline a
plan for collective impact using a Networked Improvement Community (NIC)
approach.
