University Place

U.S. farmers embraced nitrogen-based fertilizer at a dramatic pace during the 1960s and '70s. Since then, its use has played a key role in boosting agricultural productivity. But as a consequence, nitrogen's more soluble form, nitrate, has become a common drinking water contaminant, in Wisconsin and around the country.

Leaky sewer pipes might be the source of viruses found in drinking water that Wisconsin municipalities draw from bedrock aquifers 800 feet below ground..

Wisconsin's climate is gradually warming and is forecast to get warmer by the mid-21st century. Climatologists track this regional reflection of a planetary trend in large part through a series of satellites that gather data about Earth's lands, seas and air, and subsequently, use this information to help model long-term climate projections.