Think our record-setting winter pokes holes in the case for climate change? On the contrary: In a warming world, scientists tell us Wisconsin can expect a future of more weather extremes and variability, including heavy snow. And these effects won't be caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases we generate now; they're the after-effects of our lack of understanding going back at least a generation.
Now that we know better, we must act.
Today's challenge involves both reducing (or mitigating) today's greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to changes now under way from emissions going back decades. On April 16, in a lead up to Earth Day, some of Wisconsin's brightest minds will share what they know about mitigation and adaptation as they relate to energy security, health, agriculture, land use, transportation, water management and natural resources. The day will conclude with a panel discussion of policy options. Everyone is welcome.
Wisconsin has generated considerable momentum on this important issue. Governor Jim Doyle's Task Force on Global Warming is expected to release its final recommendations next month, and the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord signed last November by the Midwestern Governors Association is an important piece in the mitigation puzzle. The state Office of Energy Independence, the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at UW-Madison and a growing number of successful business and agricultural enterprises also show tremendous promise in addressing the causes of climate change and creating new jobs. These developments establish Wisconsin as a leader on climate change. But even the most vigorous statewide response will not prevent consequences in the decades ahead. We'll need to adapt to some of them.
As UW-Madison climate scientists point out, there's a lag time of 30 to 40 years between putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and feeling its effects. Changes now under way reflect greenhouse gases emitted through the 1960s. We've injected a lot more carbon pollution into the air since that time, and we're going to face challenges to our natural resources, economy and health until we get climate change under control. Even our sense of place - our state's identity as a naturally diverse, water-rich, four-season landscape - may be in jeopardy. The new Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts, launched by UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and others, will translate the best available science so state resource managers, businesses, public health officials and other decision makers can anticipate climate change effects and plan ahead.
At the second Nelson Institute Earth Day Conference in Madison on April 16, we will look at both sides of the climate issue: how we affect the climate and how it affects us. In other words, we will have a chance both to explore approaches for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to develop strategies for adapting to the effects of our past emissions. Governor Doyle will join industry, academic and environmental leaders for this ground-breaking, day-long event.
Responding to climate change requires cooperation, innovation and imagination. We invite you to join us in taking action now. For more information, visit www.nelson.wisc.edu/outreach.
- Tia Nelson is executive secretary of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming, and chair of the Nelson Institute Board of Visitors. Lewis Gilbert is interim director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison and a member of the Task Force on Global Warming Technical Advisory Group.
Now that we know better, we must act.
Today's challenge involves both reducing (or mitigating) today's greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to changes now under way from emissions going back decades. On April 16, in a lead up to Earth Day, some of Wisconsin's brightest minds will share what they know about mitigation and adaptation as they relate to energy security, health, agriculture, land use, transportation, water management and natural resources. The day will conclude with a panel discussion of policy options. Everyone is welcome.
Wisconsin has generated considerable momentum on this important issue. Governor Jim Doyle's Task Force on Global Warming is expected to release its final recommendations next month, and the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord signed last November by the Midwestern Governors Association is an important piece in the mitigation puzzle. The state Office of Energy Independence, the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at UW-Madison and a growing number of successful business and agricultural enterprises also show tremendous promise in addressing the causes of climate change and creating new jobs. These developments establish Wisconsin as a leader on climate change. But even the most vigorous statewide response will not prevent consequences in the decades ahead. We'll need to adapt to some of them.
As UW-Madison climate scientists point out, there's a lag time of 30 to 40 years between putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and feeling its effects. Changes now under way reflect greenhouse gases emitted through the 1960s. We've injected a lot more carbon pollution into the air since that time, and we're going to face challenges to our natural resources, economy and health until we get climate change under control. Even our sense of place - our state's identity as a naturally diverse, water-rich, four-season landscape - may be in jeopardy. The new Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts, launched by UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and others, will translate the best available science so state resource managers, businesses, public health officials and other decision makers can anticipate climate change effects and plan ahead.
At the second Nelson Institute Earth Day Conference in Madison on April 16, we will look at both sides of the climate issue: how we affect the climate and how it affects us. In other words, we will have a chance both to explore approaches for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to develop strategies for adapting to the effects of our past emissions. Governor Doyle will join industry, academic and environmental leaders for this ground-breaking, day-long event.
Responding to climate change requires cooperation, innovation and imagination. We invite you to join us in taking action now. For more information, visit www.nelson.wisc.edu/outreach.
- Tia Nelson is executive secretary of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming, and chair of the Nelson Institute Board of Visitors. Lewis Gilbert is interim director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison and a member of the Task Force on Global Warming Technical Advisory Group.
