Of course there are many more than the ones that I will share, but here is a good start.
1.) In the US Virgin Islands if you dig downward for water, you get salt water. So you need rain water, especially for drought periods. So my Dad put in a system wherein the water came off of the roof and had four cisterns totaling 30,000 gallons. If you can’t afford cisterns, put it in barrels. Have a gutter system that puts the water in barrels or cisterns from your roof. He gave his water away to anyone who wanted it as he had so much.
US Virgin Islands have these all over the place on slopes: They are slabs of concrete or pavement on incline. It should be built to drain in one corner into a tube that runs into barrel or cistern. It is a great community resource for times of communal water deficit.
2.) Our government in MA pays for swimming pools and beaches open to the public and pays for life guards. Yet there has to be a way to make sure that every region in a country prevents heat stroke and death. So have charities put tubs everywhere. FORCE your local and national governments to pay for them. So when someone starts to succumb to the heat, he should get in a tub to lower body’s core temperature. Especially financially poor people without bathtubs will appreciate these community tubs.
3.) Look online for heat and drought resistant seeds. If you live on a coast, they should also have the feature of being able to be watered with salt water. DO NOT BUY GMO SEEDS!
4.) Do not buy manufactured products. The companies rape the Earth for resources, take money away from communities for their own coffers since primary motive is maximum profits and heavily carbon load. So keep money local. Buy and sell locally. Do not purchase imported goods.
5.) Start up transition towns NOW. You will then even be better prepared to deal with worsening climate change issues.
6.) Do the Earth a favor. Cut back on your own eco footprint and carbon foot print. Do all that you can, including using less energy and traveling less, to help.
Sally Dugman is a writer from MA, USA