EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The catalyst for this report came from Governor Evers’ Executive Order 52, which directed us to collect and update scientific data on the rate of climate change in Wisconsin and its impact on Wisconsin’s natural environment. With this report, the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) is fulfilling this directive and carrying out WICCI’s mission to generate and share information that can foster solutions to climate change in Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s climate continues to change. In the ten years since the 2011 WICCI Assessment Report, new data show continued warming, increases in rain and snow, and more frequent extreme rainfall events. Statewide temperatures have warmed by about three degrees Fahrenheit and precipitation has increased by nearly twenty percent since 1950. In the last decade, nearly every region of our state has experienced extreme rainfall events that led to flooding of roads, homes, businesses, and farm fields. New analyses reaffirm previous projections indicating that many of these trends will continue, with wide ranging consequences throughout Wisconsin’s natural and built environments. Communities in Wisconsin are feeling the widespread impacts of the changing climate and are starting to take action to protect themselves from future changes. In the Driftless Area, agricultural communities, who have suffered damage from years of flooding, have come together to find solutions. In Northern Wisconsin, the warmer and wetter climate is impacting roads, trails, wildlife, and plants. Coastal communities are banding together to address issues affecting the Great Lakes region, including rapidly fluctuating water levels and eroding bluffs. In Southern Wisconsin and along the Mississippi River, high flows from the wettest decade on record are impacting transportation and wildlife corridors, and sparking conversations
about designing infrastructure to handle future climate conditions. As climate change and the need for solutions are becoming more apparent, so too is the recognition that environmental and climate justice must be an integral aspect of our response. While not the focus of this report, WICCI scientists and practitioners underscore that historically disadvantaged communities bear a disproportionate burden and suffer the greatest harms and risks from climate impacts such as flooding, worsening air quality, heat waves, and drought. For example, changing conditions for plants and wildlife have uniquely affected Native Americans’ important cultural, treaty, and subsistence resources. Decision-makers should acknowledge and understand these uneven impacts of climate change to ensure solutions are effective and equitable. WICCI also stresses, as science has detailed, the need for large and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Action at all levels of government is necessary. Without it, Wisconsin will see even greater impacts to roads, infrastructure, people, businesses, and natural resources. Wisconsin is uniquely positioned to lead in this transition. For example, our farms, forests, and natural lands can help solve climate challenges through practices that store carbon in soils and reduce emissions. Lastly, this report was developed to be read digitally. It includes links to take the reader to WICCI Working Group web pages and the latest research, suggested strategies for adaptation and mitigation, and stories of climate impacts and action from individuals across the state. Working groups will update this web content as new resources and solutions emerge. Together, this report and the additional digital content provide the most comprehensive assessment to date of past and future climate change and its impacts in Wisconsin.
WICCI Report 2021
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