Images via U.S. Department of Agriculture

Series: Climate Science And Wisconsin

Climate science is complex. Because changes to the global climate span continents and develop over decades, their effects on individual places and weather events are difficult to pinpoint. But with an ever growing body of historical climate data and sophisticated computer modeling, scientists can forecast how climate change is unfolding — and likely continue to play out — in places like Wisconsin with increasing confidence. In coming decades communities around the state are projected to continue experiencing warmer and more extreme weather. These effects are increasingly being recognized, with winter and nighttime temperatures rising, and heavier rainstorms occurring with increasing regularity. From the environment to human health to the economy, gauging the impacts of a changing climate is an urgent scientific endeavor with implications for every Wisconsinite.
 
It's not always easy to anticipate a drastic change in an ecosystem.
Climate change may give a big boost to dairy farming in the Midwest, including Michigan and northern Wisconsin, a new study of the future for U.S. dairy farms reports.
Climate change is projected to make the upper Midwest a wetter place as more frequent and intense rains hit the region.
From Harvey to Irma to Maria, there have been no shortage of catastrophic hurricanes leaving parts of the U.S. and its territories under water and their residents on edge. But the technologies that track these storms is improving.
The concept of flood recurrence intervals is a classic example of a communication gap that can form between scientists and the public.
After yet another summer of dangerous and destructive flooding, from Ino to Madison to Coon Valley, Wisconsinites seem more ready than ever to discuss how climate change is affecting the state.
While efforts after August 2018 storms focused on cleaning up and limiting flooding, Madison will need to address its vulnerability to extreme rainfall if it wants to prepare for the future.
Wisconsin's meteorological winter begins every year on Dec. 1, but bonafide winter weather didn't arrive in the 2018-2019 season until mid-January.