Posted on 04/05/2006 5:54:34 PM PDT by SJackson
Wisconsin's a great place to live, and we love it. The idyllic summers and sparkling lakes, the dramatic pageant of the seasons between the spectacular geography and the varied weather, our state is a terrific place to grow food, raise a family and enjoy life outdoors.
But all that's changing. We had a handful of unprecedented air-quality alerts last summer. And one day with 28 tornadoes. We've been seeing record-setting temperatures. And a growing infiltration of pests, from purple loosestrife to the gypsy moth and coming soon the emerald ash borer. These phenomena have two things in common: One, they take a little of the shine off our wonderful quality of life; and two, they are all advance-guard manifestations of global warming.
Many people still seem to think that global warming is a problem our grandchildren may have to worry about. Actually, the effects of global warming began showing up in the 1980s, and the pace is picking up. Last November, the Union of Concerned Scientists updated a 2003 report about the likely effects of global warming on states in the Great Lakes region. It said that before the end of the century, Wisconsin's climate will be similar to that of present-day Oklahoma. That'll take some getting used to, huh?
What's in store for the Badger State? Well, if the climate follows the "gradual change" model and not the "swift and drastic" model, our average monthly temperatures will range from about 93 F down to about 25. Summer highs could reach 120. We'll have a lot more rain during planting and harvesting seasons, and significantly less during the growing season. Summer soil moisture will be about a third less. Small streams will dry up and wetlands will shrink, reducing wildlife habitat and providing less food for migratory birds. Water quantity and quality will decrease.
When rain does come, it will more likely be a violent occurrence, with storms, including multi-day storms, increasing 50 percent to 100 percent from present levels. That means more flooding and erosion. Summertime air pollution and ozone levels will increase, aggravating asthma and other respiratory diseases. Higher carbon dioxide levels will mean more problems with pests.
Many of these phenomena will feed each other, making things worse. Drier weather will mean more fires, which will produce more air pollution, which will further reduce rainfall. And so on.
The changing climate will affect our social engine as well. Insurers are already raising their rates to compensate for losses from increasing natural calamities floods, tornadoes, fires, high winds. According to a risk analyst interviewed by environmental researcher Eugene Linden in "Winds of Change" (Simon & Schuster, 2006), insurers could price themselves out of business by 2010, if not before. Our new weather will strain our ability to produce food. Tourism will decrease. And an increasingly struggling economy will put the hurt on everyone.
Why are we losing Wisconsin? Largely because we insist on driving our big cars too much. Global warming is due primarily to carbon dioxide. Cars are the second biggest generators of carbon dioxide, next to coal-burning power plants. And Americans are the worst producers of carbon dioxide, at 7.5 tons per person per year. People in Japan, Germany and the U.K. produce about half that, and they are working at cleaning up their act. We are getting worse.
We can't turn the clock back, because the carbon dioxide that's out there will affect the climate for many decades. But we can help to keep things from deteriorating faster. Drastic measures are called for, including getting rid of gas hog vehicles, and driving much, much less. Beyond that, we need to reduce consumption in all aspects of life. Buy less, own less, waste less. We can't wait for government initiatives, because they may never come. We each have to just do it.
The next time you're out for a cruise, wave a fond goodbye to Wisconsin, because the climate we love is as good as gone. Of course, Oklahoma is not a bad state to be in. But let's stop there. If we keep on driving the way we have been, we may end up in Panama.
John Ingham, a writer and editor, lives in Dodgeville. E-mail: jingham@mhtc.net. Published: April 4, 2006
Maybe it'll look something like this:
www.badgerbadgerbadger.com
http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/
Or is it confined to the Wisconsin sub-species?
Would someone tell this bozo that the emerald ash borer came into Michigan via a wooden pallet from the Orient??? If anything can be blamed,it's globalization.
I'd like to send him some of our "wonderful" autumn olives. The DNR planted these pests in the 1970's because they were supposed to be good habitat for birds. Now they're classified as a noxious weed.
Cheer up Mr. Ingham. You're probably going to die from bird flu long before then.
Don't quit yer day job, Hyperbolingham or whatever.
So changing weather will be a calamity. I'm still a little confused how melting ice caps and permafrost, which, by definition, will increase the amount of water vapor in the air and liquid water in the environment, will somehow create a desert. There are places on earth where the summer average temp is 93 and the average winter temp is 25 that are wet all year around; some places have a dry season and a monsoon season; some places are deserts; and some, like Oklahoma, are arid grasslands. So let's say Wisconsin turns into Oklahoma. What happens to Oklahoma - does it become Veracruz? How about Churchill, Manitoba - the new Wisconsin?
One of the truths from the last ice age - in Wisconsin, of all places - is that the tundra and forest south of the ice edge was unlike anything on Earth right now. Spruces rubbed elbows with oaks and maples. Imagine Alaskan forests mixed with the upper peninsula of Michigan and a whole dollop of Virginia tossed in the mix. No doubt that winter wind blowing off the ice cap would have been bone-chilling; and with much of the Earth's water taken up as ice, it was far drier back then. It was a unique forest, in the same way that the current forest is unique. Without human intervention, the climate and environment will change over and over. The same is true with human intervention.
In essence, the writer is a reactionary, pining away for a past that never was. No doubt he's not pleased with THAT observation.
We don't want him in Texas either!
A little humor there?
Weatherman says tornados will be moving through here tomorrow evening.
But John-just think! The corn will be as high as an elephant's eye! That should make you happy as you no doubt support the ethanol mandate boondoggle.
Brother, I'm with you (rural Grady County).
So far I couldn't find any downside to his global warming. I've ordered 200 orange trees to plant. In my foolish youth I enjoyed winter, but with age came wisdom. Besides, I really enjoy deer season in jeans and lite-hikers.
"So far I couldn't find any downside to his global warming. I've ordered 200 orange trees to plant. In my foolish youth I enjoyed winter, but with age came wisdom. Besides, I really enjoy deer season in jeans and lite-hikers."
Great Idea! The two things I've really missed here are homegrown avocados and figs. I once had a date palm, too. Maybe those would grow here, too.
Ops33, I'm in the OKC metro, but I still like it here, despite having driven through once in the mid-80's and not seeing anything to stop for... It's a nice place. Especially compared to LA.
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