5 Eye-Opening Facts Wisconsin Residents Should Know About How Climate Change Will Hurt the State

If asked what climate change is actually going to do to the environment, the average person might say something like, “Um, wildfires? Something about the sea level?” And it’s true that wildfires in the American West and sea level rise, along with intensifying hurricanes, are among the most visible impacts of our warming planet right now. And because there’s a whole continent of land between the fires in California and hurricanes slamming the East Coast, it’s easy to think that the Midwest won’t feel any significant impacts.

But that’s not quite true. Take a look at Wisconsin: The Badger State has seen smoke from California’s record-setting 2020 fires drift all the way here. And earlier this summer, it also received rain from a tropical storm system for just the fourth time in recorded history. No, a little bit of smoke and hurricane rain isn’t a disaster, but they’re not good signs either. So, let’s take a look at what substantially negative effects to Wisconsin’s climate we can expect to see throughout this century.

1. Water Stress Is Our Greatest Threat

The New York Times recently published an interactive map that displays the greatest climate risks in every county of the United States. You can peruse the map yourself here, or check out the non-interactive version below:

Source: New York Times / Four Twenty Seven

The yellow that covers most of Wisconsin signifies that water stress is the greatest risk in those counties, and the orange in some southwestern counties signifies extreme heat risk. In the NYT article, "water stress" covers both drought-like conditions and water demand. It might be crazy to think that a state that borders two Great Lakes and has so many other inland lakes might face water stress, but the demand issue may not be entirely internal.

"We will see increasing demands on water resources and so even though Wisconsin itself may be fine, there may be other parts of the country that are really eyeing the Great Lakes, ponds, and waterways, and saying 'Sell us your water,'" explains University of Wisconsin–Madison climate scientist Ankur Desai.

2. Despite the Water Stress, the Water Cycle Is Intensifying

Basically, this means we're going to see more flooding. Another way to say this is that wet areas get wetter, and dry areas get drier. With all of Wisconsin's water, it's easy to tell which one America's Dairyland is.

Professor Desai says both urban and rural flooding will increase, but water management in big cities (like Milwaukee) will have it the worst due to their large drainage areas and populations. In 2018, Madison and south-central Wisconsin experienced record-setting floods with damages totaling upwards of $200 million in cost. You can see some of the extensive coverage on the floods by the Wisconsin State Journal here.

More recently, the August 2020 derecho (a widespread, long-lived, and straight-line wind storm) that most notably flattened crops and buildings across Iowa also nicked the southern strip of Wisconsin, and generated three tornadoes.

3. Tourism in Wisconsin Is Going to Suffer

As a transplant Wisconsinite from the flatlands of Illinois, I can attest to the appeal of escaping into Wisconsin nature for a vacation. From Lake Geneva to the Dells to Door County to Devil's Lake, the state is full of beautiful scenery and recreational opportunities that are a boon to the state's economy and boost residents' quality of life. But a warming climate puts all of that at risk.

It's pretty clear that degrading natural landscapes through pollution and deforestation makes them less attractive as a travel destination, and that it's not all that fun to spend time outside when in increasingly hot weather.

Here's some other tourism impacts that the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) identifies in their Wisconsin's Changing Climate report:

• Damage to fisheries from wetland loss and increasing erosion

• Declining integrity and beauty of beaches from lower lake levels

• Beach closures from pathogen buildup on beaches from storm runoff

The report lists the direct economic impact of tourism in Wisconsin as $11.9 billion (as of 2011) – so there's a lot at stake when it comes to maintaining a healthy tourism industry.

Devil's Lake outside of Baraboo is one of Wisconsin's most famous natural attractions.

4. And So Will Agriculture.

That same report lists agriculture in Wisconsin as the leading industry for direct economic impact, at $22.3 billion dollars annually. For centuries, Wisconsin has had a very suitable climate for farming of all sorts. But warmer summers and winters, changed growing season lengths, increased humidity, and an intensifying water cycle upsets the delicate climatic balance that made a Wisconsin such as great place for everything from raising cows to growing cranberries.

It's the state's famed dairy industry that gets the most attention for the crisis it's in. Now, to be clear, many of Wisconsin dairy's current issues don't have much to do directly with climate change. To understand where the crisis came from, I'd recommend checking out this article that explains the data trends that underlie it. But climate change certainly does not help, and as we know, is only likely to get worse.

In particular, warmer temperatures are difficult for cows to handle, and increasing storms flood pastures and wash out the roads that farmers need to get around. If we can't abate or reverse these climatic trends, the future of dairy in America's Dairyland could be in serious peril.

Ironically, there is the added complication that raising cows also adds to carbon emissions through the release of methane as a byproduct of digestion. In fact, it's thought that American dairy farms contribute 1-2% of all U.S. greenhouse emissions. It is possible to farm dairy more sustainably, but that's going to be a challenging transition for an industry already struggling.

5. And Because of It All, Human Health Will Be Threatened

Though we won't face the same extent of direct threats to human life through the increase of natural hazards like wildfires and hurricanes, Wisconsin will almost surely still lose more lives than in the past due to flooding and heat exposure. But more Wisconsinites are likely to experience impacts to their health rather than direct threats to their lives.

"The core of the problem that we're trying to tackle is to reduce emissions so that we have healthy air and healthy water and healthy people," says Maria Redmond, the director of Wisconsin's Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy.

All humans need clean air to breathe and water to drink – which is pretty obvious. But the WICCI report projects an increase in several types of pollution, including smog, particulate matter, and airborne allergens. Water isn't safe either, as we face the threat of sanitary sewer overflows and contamination from fertilizer runoff after storms.

Flooding can also spread bacteria and viruses, and a warming climate often proves to be hospitable to diseases in animals like West Nile virus and Lyme disease. As of 2020, we've certainly had enough disease to last lifetimes, so if we want to avoid more of it, significant climate action has to be taken.

As the report says: "For human health and the built environment, 'business as usual' is not adequate to manage current and future risks posed by climate change to society."

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So to sum up, no: climate change won't destroy Wisconsin quite the same way it's going to on America's coasts if we don't do enough to address it. But yes: it will unequivocally hurt the state and those who call it home.