{"id":11271,"date":"2021-06-28t16:39:23","date_gmt":"2021-06-28t16:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/floods-hurricanes-and-heatwaves-climate-change-will-intensify-extreme-weather-in-illinois-report-finds\/"},"modified":"2023-03-07t19:39:27","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07t19:39:27","slug":"illinois-extreme-weather-climate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/illinois-extreme-weather-climate\/","title":{"rendered":"floods, hurricanes, and heatwaves: climate change will intensify extreme weather in illinois, report finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
by eva herscowitz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n although farmer steve stierwalt grows crops in the tiny town of sadorus, illinois \u2014 with a population of barely 350 \u2014 the agricultural practices he employs have environmental implications that stretch from midwestern cornfields to central american seas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n fertilizer-polluted waterways in champaign county, where stierwalt farms, converge into the mississippi river, emptying toxins into the gulf of mexico \u2014 where a 2,000-square-mile, pollutant-induced hypoxic zone makes aquatic life nearly impossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n one cause of deoxygenated water in the gulf? water that falls from the sky. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cit’s pretty amazing the amount of energy each single raindrop has,\u201d stierwalt said. \u201cwhen it hits bare soil, it’s like a miniature explosion. it displaces soil particles. anytime that soil gets into surface water, it’s carrying nutrients with it. the nutrients, as we know, contribute to the hypoxic zone.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n to reduce soil erosion that illinois rivers carry to the gulf, stierwalt has decreased fertilizer use and adopted conservation practices, like nutrient management tools that measure cost-effective and environmentally conscious amounts of nitrogen to apply to corn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n sustainable agriculture practices \u2014 like rotating crops, planting cover crops, and eliminating tillage \u2014 allow stierwalt to adapt to heavy rainfall, a form of extreme weather intensifying in illinois. indeed, science confirms stierwalt\u2019s observations: a major assessment released<\/a> by the nature conservancy in april outlines how climate change will escalate periods of extreme heat, increased precipitation, and more intense storms in illinois. <\/p>\n\n\n\n on farms, for instance, heavy rain and conventional tillage \u2014 ploughing, harrowing, and removing plant residue to prepare seedbeds \u2014 can trigger a chain reaction of climatic damage, contributing to soil erosion, and phosphate- and nitrate-infested run-off, resulting in pollution of the gulf. these processes are already transforming illinois, and no domain \u2014 from urban infrastructure to human health to plant biodiversity \u2014 will remain unaffected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n the report drew on the expertise of 45 researchers, scientists, climatologists, and policy-makers in illinois, all of whom contributed to its stark findings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cclimate change can seem like an overall threat that we don’t have any ability to change,\u201d said michelle carr, illinois state director at the nature conservancy. \u201cwhen we look at state-specific data, and how it affects different industries that are prominent in our state, it allows those players to do more, because they’re seeing the specificity to their own geography.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n co-led by climatologist donald wuebbles, former illinois state climatologist james angel, climate change project manager at the nature conservancy karen petersen and director of conservation science at the nature conservancy maria lemke, the 197-page report<\/a> contains contributions from 45 specialists and covers the impacts of climate change on illinois hydrology, agriculture, public health, and ecosystems. the statistics alone illustrate the projected scope of environmental transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n accompanied by longer growing seasons and less severe extreme cold, temperatures will likely warm by 4 to 9 degrees f under a lower scenario and 8 to 14 degrees f under a higher scenario by the end of the 21st century. longer growing seasons may sound like a bonus \u2014 but extremely long seasons can devastate, limiting crop diversity, encouraging invasive plant growth and straining water supplies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n the report also projects more rainy days and fewer snowy days by the century\u2019s end, trends on the heels of a 5% to 20% increase in mean precipitation over the past 120 years. according to projections, severe weather will contribute to short-term droughts, as well as intense rain and flooding. far from functioning as a minor inconvenience, flooding can delay planting, wash away fields of seedlings and destroy exposed crops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n illinois residents can expect extreme heat by the century\u2019s close, too. in southern illinois, for instance, scientists project the annual hottest 5-day maximum temperature to increase from 96 degrees to 100-107 degrees f under a lower scenario and 102 to 114 degrees f under a higher scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cyou see reports about fires in california or sea level rise in florida, and you think it’s more of a coastal problem,\u201d petersen said. \u201cwe hope this report will help make some of those future impacts tangible, and for people to realize that climate change will have serious impacts in illinois, and we can still do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n wuebbles said land use and greenhouse gas emissions have remained the most significant contributors to climate change since the mid-1900s. heavy emissions, he added, are unsustainable: the report projects that continued fossil fuel use will produce the most dramatic transformations, while a switch to renewable energy will net less extreme changes. a third scenario \u2014 which wuebbles called \u201cnegative emissions\u201d \u2014 will require scientists to harness technology to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n regardless of the scenario, human activity will drive transformations in northern, central, and southern illinois, said wuebbles, a university of illinois at urbana-champaign professor who has contributed to several united nations intergovernmental panel on climate change reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cillinois\u2019 climate is expected to continue to change over the century, with significant impacts on urban and rural communities and sectors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n consistent with the report\u2019s predictions, stierwalt has observed \u2014 and adapted to \u2014 extreme weather events. to protect soil, waterways, and farmland, stierwalt practices no-till, strip-till, and cover crop farming \u2014 practices that sequester carbon in his soil while reducing nutrient pollution and soil erosion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n currently the president of the association of illinois soil and water conservation districts, stierwalt also serves on the steering committee for s.t.a.r., a nationwide program dedicated<\/a> to \u201csaving tomorrow\u2019s agriculture resources\u201d by helping farmers adopt conservation-based practices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201chealthy soils are more armored against these extreme weather events,\u201d stierwalt said. \u201c(without adapting), the danger is losing this asset that we can’t afford to lose. we lose that soil for future generations.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n in conventional tillage, farmers use an implement to turn over soil, passing over the field multiple times and leaving barren soil behind. in no-till farming, farmers use planters or drills to cut a v-slot in the remains of previous crops, planting seeds within. benefits of no-till include increased infiltration and soil fertility, and decreased labor costs and soil erosion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n adopting sustainable agricultural practices, like no-till and drought-resistant crops, will determine the extent to which \u201cfuture generations\u201d of farmers face smaller crop yields, increased livestock illnesses, and increased crop diseases. bill miller, a northwestern university engineering professor who contributed to the report, said \u201cnatural climate solutions\u201d present promising ways to mitigate extreme weather. cover crops, for instance, prevent soil erosion while strengthening soil\u2019s biological properties. \u201cit can help build up the richness of the soil,\u201d miller said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n45 authors, one report<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
from farming to flooding <\/h2>\n\n\n\n