MADISON, WI (SPECTRUM NEWS) — A new Spectrum News/IPSOS Poll gauges how Wisconsinites see climate change's role in the state.
When asked how much of an impact, if any, climate change has played in various issues from flooding to air quality, the highest percentage of Wisconsinites routinely said they believed it had a negative impact, with the second largest chunk saying they believed it had no impact.
When asked about flooding in Western Wisconsin, 40% of Wisconsinites thought climate change had a major or minor negative impact. Twenty-five percent said it had no impact, while 25% said they did not know. Ten percent said it had a major or minor positive impact.
Daniel Wright, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, said years with well-above average, or record-setting annual rainfall combined with an increase in intense storms have lead to more flooding around the state.
“We've really seen a major uptick in the number of extreme storms, both in the number and sort of the intensity of these extreme storms in the past couple of decades,” Wright said.
Wright said scientific evidence points towards climate change for the increase in precipitation. He says it's tied to the overall warming of our climate.
“The connection between global warming and these extreme storms is the fact that as the air gets warmer, as we all know in the summertime, for example the air gets more humid, so when the air is more humid, there's more water that can then fall out as rainfall,” Wright said.
Wright said the increase in rainfall and precipitation increases runoff. So water runs through agriculture fields and urban settings and brings contaminants to water systems meaning not only do lakes end up with higher levels, but the water going into the lakes have more contaminants.
“When those things then get washed into our water bodies, which is happening increasingly more with the heavy rainfall we're having, combined with warmer temperatures is really producing a large number of algae blooms,” Wright said.
Forty-five percent of Wisconsinites believed climate change was having a negative impact on lake levels and algae blooms according to the Spectrum News/IPSOS Poll. Twenty-three percent believed it had no impact, 22% didn't know, and 9% thought it had a positive impact.
When it came to air quality, 37% of Wisconsinites believed climate change was having a negative impact. 33% thought it was having no impact, 20% didn't know and 10 percent thought it had a positive impact.
When it comes to Wisconsin's winters, outdoor recreation could be in jeopardy if they become warmer and shorter as climate scientists project.
“The recreation industry will certainly be affected, and it's not always clear exactly how,” said Steve Vavrus, co-director of the Wisconsin Initiative of Climate Change Impacts.
Thirty-five percent of respondents in the polll said they thought climate change was having a negative impact on winter outdoor recreation, while 35% also thought it was having no impact. Twenty-one percent did not know while 9% thought it was having a positive impact.
When it came to agriculture, 43% of people thought climate change was having a negative impact. Twenty-five percent of people thought it was having no impact on Wisconsin agriculture, 21% didn't know and 9% thought it had a positive impact.
Wright said high-water years make things difficult for farmers.
“Throughout the Midwest in 2019 you saw issues with agricultural fields becoming water-logged,” Wright said.
Small farm advocacy groups like Family Farm Defenders say extreme weather like this summer's Derecho wind storm hurts farmers, too.
Family Farm Defender's executive director Josh Peck said climate change has brought more invasive pests and diseases to farmers as well. He also said the climate changing overall will change things for farmers in Wisconsin.
“It's going to be affecting climactic zones,” Peck said. “I mean, what crops are will we even be able to grow here? I mean, farmers up in Canada are joking about, 'We're going to be the new Corn Belt, and you people in the Midwest are going to be stuck growing, I don't know, cotton?'"
Peck said agriculture plays a role in increasing climate change, too. He says the agriculture community wants to and should work on ways to mitigate it.
Overall 6% of respondents saw climate change/natural disasters as being the main problem Wisconsin is facing today. Thirty-nine percent approved of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' handling of climate change. Thirty-four percent didn't know and 27% disprove.
View full poll results here.