Our climate is changing
now. Extremely rapidly.
Expect wetter winters and springs
with heavy rain, snow events.
Intensity and frequency of tornadoes,
large hail, damaging thunderstorm winds.
Rain events exceeding 6 inches
now occur regularly. Flooding.
Sewage overflows. E. coli alerts.
Beach closures. Water-borne pathogens.
Nutrient runoff. Algal blooms.
Great stress on water infrastructure.
I have just returned from Washington, D.C.
The White House says “We don’t believe you” but
changes in precipitation affecting farmers.
Planting delays caused by spring flooding,
excessively wet soil conditions. Delayed planting
puts crops at risk during hot, drier conditions.
Will likely reduce crop yields for soybean
and maize by 10-30% mid-century.
More events. More rain. Exceeding
capacity of culverts and storm sewers.
Lake level variability high, affecting
marinas, docks, shoreline homes.
Vulnerability of beaches, shorelines
and bluffs to erosion. Wave damage.
Both parties get it but don’t want to do anything
until the political climate is such they don’t feel
they are committing political suicide.
Shifts in length of season. Increasing concerns
about invasive species. Ranges shifting
for sport and baitfish. Parasites, especially ticks,
surviving in greater number. White-footed mice,
carrier of known pathogen for Lyme, to colonize
new areas, including southern Michigan and Quebec.
I volunteer my time because our children
and grandchildren will bear the burden
of our decisions.
They already are.
My note to Congressmen Fred Upton and Bill Huizenga: “Addressing climate change must be a priority. I am not a scientist but I see what is happening to our lakeside communities, dependent in part on tourism, in part on farming. We are under water.”
A Found Photo Poem
A poem found in the words of Dr. Donald J. Wuebbies, Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Illinois, as spoken (in italics) at the June 2019 meeting of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative and published in the report, “An Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on the Great Lakes,” Accompanying photos found in Park, Laketown, and Saugatuck Townships.
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