MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) – Global warming, melting ice caps, rising sea levels and other environmental catastrophes are frightening concepts that most people feel helpless to do anything about.

But activists gathered Sunday at Tufts University to discuss grass-roots solutions to worldwide climate problems at the third annual Grassroots Climate Action Conference.

About 200 people attended a series of educational seminars and “how-to” workshops designed to teach people not just about the issue of global warming, but how to address it both at the individual level and by forming community advocacy groups to lobby local government.

“The goal here is to give people the information they need to become climate activists at the local and state level,” said Marc Breslow, co-director of the Massachusetts Climate Action Network. “Doing the little things in Massachusetts won’t solve the problem, but it’s a demonstration effect, and we can set an example.”

University of New Hampshire professor Barrett Rock painted a bleak picture in one of the morning seminars. New England’s skiing and maple syrup industries have already been negatively affected by climate change, and at current rates, when average worldwide temperatures are expected to rise 6 to 10 degrees by the end of the century, Boston could eventually have a climate similar to the current climate in Richmond, Va. or Atlanta, he said.

The warmer climate will result in the loss of coastal areas, salt water intrusion into fresh water supplies and the spread of tropical diseases, Breslow said.

But there are “a million things you can do” to slow the process, he said, from simply switching to more energy efficient lighting at home to driving a more fuel efficient car.

And while one person making a lifestyle change may not seem like it can make a huge difference, when communities take action, the results can be dramatic.

The Medford Climate Action Network launched a campaign earlier this year to persuade people to switch to more energy efficient compact fluorescent lights instead of conventional incandescent light bulbs.

The campaign, which drew the support of the mayor and city council, has succeeded in replacing hundreds of light bulbs in the city. Program coordinator Jack Beusmans said that if all 22,000 Medford households changed one 60-watt bulb with a 15-watt fluorescent it would keep 1 million pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and save $100,000 annually.

A climate control group in Lexington persuaded the cash-strapped town to borrow money to switch to more efficient lighting in four schools. The new, more environmentally friendly lighting will pay for itself in a year and save the town money in the long run, Breslow said.

Dakota Butterfield, fed up by the Bush administration’s energy and environmental policies, attended the conference to see what she could do.

“I can’t change what the federal government is doing but I can take responsibility in my own community,” the Cambridge woman said.

After attending the morning workshop sessions, the mother of three was inspired to take action. She said she plans to join the Cambridge chapter of the Climate Action Committee to push for the construction of “green” buildings, and on an even more grass-roots level, replace every conventional light bulb in her house with a compact fluorescent light.

“I’ve learned a ton,” she said. “I didn’t know so much was going on and so much could be done at the local level. It’s amazing what people are doing. It suddenly doesn’t seem so hopeless.”

AP-ES-11-16-03 1843EST