I live in Wisconsin, and if you are not aware, it has been damn cold here over the last couple weeks. Unlike the current White House resident, I do not think this makes global warming a Chinese hoax. But then I also do not believe every conspiracy theory someone floats by me. I live in a city, Madison, built on four lakes, Monona, Mendota, Waubesa, and Wingra (and Kegonsa if you want to include all the lakes in the chain). The University of Wisconsin—Madison sits on the shores of Lake Mendota, and because of that, Lake Mendota is very likely the most studied body of water in the world.
One of the things that is tracked on Lake Mendota is when the lake freezes over, and when the ice clears. While it is currently damn cold here, -6 degrees Fahrenheit, the lake tells us another tale. When records were first being kept in the 1850s Lake Mendota, for the most part, froze over in late November/early December, and would clear in late March/mid-April (and in a couple of cases, May). Between 1852 and 1900, the latest the lake froze over was in early January, and in 48 years, that only happened five times. Since 2000, that has happened nine times. Lake ice clearing before April? Between 1852 and 1900 that happened 11 times. Since 2000—10 times. During the winter of 2001-2002, Lake Mendota was only frozen over for 10 days, January 2nd, to January 12th (it was completed clear of ice by January 22nd). That had never happened before.
In Trump’s world, because there is lake ice, there can be no climate change. The lake ice records tell a much different story.
This record shows that the 10 longest periods of ice cover all occurred more than 100 years ago, while seven of the 10 shortest ice covers all happened inside the last 50 years—the four shortest ever within the last 25 years. When averaged, this record shows a long-term downward trend in the length of time that Lake Mendota is ice covered to where it is now19 days shorter than a century ago. In a typical winter these days, the ice on Lake Mendota lasts only three months compared to four months 150 years ago.
Looking at the data from the Wisconsin State Climatology office it is not hard to see that Lake Mendota being ice free during a Wisconsin winter becomes the norm and not the exception during my lifetime.
This is just one example of hard data that shows the impacts of climate change. Wisconsin will likely not suffer much from a rise in sea level, but we will see other changes. Shorter winters, longer growing seasons, and species migration, among other things. The Wisconsin I grew up in will, over time, cease to exist.
Before the century ends, average summer temperatures are projected to increase by as much as eight to 18 degrees and average winter temperatures will rise six to 11 degrees. That may not seem like much, but in southern parts of Wisconsin an eight-degree increase in average temperatures would push daytime highs from the low 80s to 90 degrees or higher for 31 days each summer and nudge the average daily high above freezing all winter long.
They naysayers on the right will point to heavier snowfall totals and say, “It is snowing, that disproves climate change,”
Winter precipitation is projected to increase by as much as 30 percent, while summer precipitation may decline as much as 20 percent. As warmer temperatures increase evaporation and the amount water vapor in the atmosphere rise worldwide, the air will become more saturated, increasing humidity levels year round. This means when it does rain or snow, it’s likely to be in very large amounts.
My future grandchildren will likely never know what it will be like to ice skate on the Tenney Park Lagoon, or what a field full of fireflies at dusk looks like. That is the price we all have to pay due to Republican inaction, and belief in conspiracy theories, and fairy tales. Deep State is a fairy tale, no more real than leprechauns or unicorns. Climate change is real—there is data, evidence, and study after study proving it.
Our world is changing, and not for the better. Climate change will have minimal impact on me, and those of my generation. It will have even less impact on the leaders of the Republican Party. It will impact my son, his generation, and the generations that come after him. Throughout my life I have heard screams from the right that he deficit and our nation’s debt will be a heavy burden on future generations. The deficit and the national debt are nothing compared to the price future generations will pay for the willful ignorance of the current administration, and the Republican Party, and the cabal of rich donors that controls them.