Co-authored by Associate Professor Michelle Wander, an expert in soil fertility from the University of Illinois, and Steve Clemmer, research director for UCS's Clean Energy Program, "Impacts on Agriculture: Our Region's Vital Economic Sector", forecasts everything from changing precipitation patterns, to more extreme rainfall events, to rising ozone concentrations and an increase in pests and pathogens, all translating into higher farming costs and reduced yields for Wisconsin farmers.

The report forecasts maximum daily temperatures in the Great Lakes region will rise by 5 to l2 degrees Fahrenheit in winter and 5 to 20 degrees F. in summer by the end of the century, with drought frequency increasing as well - due to the combination of higher summer temperatures, evaporation, runoff from intense rainfall events and an overall decline in summer precipitation. Bean leaf beetles, corn borer and corn rootworm larvae are predicted to be more abundant in the future's hotter, dryer summers.

The predictions by UCS and the University of Illinois are consistent with a report published last week by the World Resources Institute, entitled the "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report", which found that 60 percent of the earth's resources are currently being significantly degraded or used unsustainably. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment warns that "unless radical changes are made in the way nature is being used by humans", the harmful consequences of the degradation will grow significantly worse in the next 50 years, "increasing the likelihood of potentially abrupt changes" that could seriously affect the future well-being of the earth's human population. It cites climate change as one of the key "drivers" which are having a measurable impact on the earth's ecosystems, "impacting species distributions, population sizes, the timing of reproduction and the timing of wildlife migration events and the frequency of pest and disease outbreaks", the report states.

Wisconsin's legislators have been avoiding the subject of global warming too long. It's time they take up the challenge of seeing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the state as well as helping Wisconsin's people and businesses to optimally cope with the consequences of climate change. Therefore, a petition has been drafted which the Madison-Area Preserve Our Climate Coalition is circulating that requests the Wisconsin Legislature create and enact climate change legislation, aimed at not just reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also at equipping Wisconsin citizens, farmers and other businesses with information and other means needed to minimize losses and respond optimally to Wisconsin's changing climate in the future.

The Preserve Our Climate Coalition will be delivering the petitions for climate change legislation to the Wisconsin Legislature by April 22, Earth Day, 2005. Please visit:
www.madison.com/communities/preserveourclimate for further details.

To view and sign the petition (only), please visit:
www.petitiononline.com/climate/petition.html

References:

New Report Outlines Great Lakes Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture
www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release.cfm

AgriNews: Report outlines climate change impact on agriculture
www.agrinewspubs.com/main.asp

Is the Climate Changing?
www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news3045.html

The Soy Daily: New Report Outlines Great Lakes Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture
www.thesoydailyclub.com/Farm&Market/climate03012005.asp