Meteorologist Bob Lindmeier on Climate Change in Wisconsin
Written by Meteorologist Bob Lindmeier
I have been a television broadcast meteorologist for the past 38 years. Early in my career I became aware of a concern in the scientific community about a weather phenomenon called “global warming.” As my career progressed, I noticed that climate researchers were becoming more and more alarmed as the evidence of greenhouse gas emissions and the effects it was having on our planet continued to mount. Along the way “global warming” was replaced by “human induced climate change” as a more accurate portrayal of this phenomenon.
We are at the point now that the overwhelming preponderance of climate research has concluded that human induced climate change is happening, and we must make substantial cuts to greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the impact of climate change for future generations. The graph indicates how high temperatures throughout the year are projected to rise by the end of the century under two different emissions scenarios. The white line shows current average high temperatures for Madison. The yellow line is the projected rise in the average high with substantial greenhouse gas emissions cuts. The orange line is a business-as-usual scenario.
For Madison, which currently has high temperatures below freezing for much of the winter, highs in the 30s will become more common by 2100. This means snow pack and frozen lakes will become less consistent, leading to less skiing, snowmobiling, and ice fishing.
Summer days currently reach the 80s on average, but they’ll likely top out in the 90s more consistently by 2100. This additional warming will likely increase heat-related illness such as heat stroke. These are the changes that our great grandchildren will have to deal with unless we do everything we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and we have to start now.
As a member of the Care for God’s Creation team I’m committed to helping our congregations become better informed about human induced climate change.
To arrange a presentation please email me at boblindmeier@gmail.com.
