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Outdoors: Global warming a hot topic at Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference

Tim Eisele
Special to The Capital Times  —  12/19/2007 8:36 am

The 68th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference was held in Madison last week, drawing more than 1,200 fish and wildlife professionals from Midwestern states to hear reports on recent research and management experiences.

Keeping in mind the quote from Mahatma Gandhi, "You must be the change you want to see in the world," participants heard about topics from invasive species to the native white-tailed deer. But, a central theme was that change is occurring due to global warming.

John Magnuson, emeritus professor in the Center for Limnology at UW-Madison, gave a keynote address followed by presentations on how climate change is affecting natural resources.

Magnuson made the point that people see and know how to deal with short-timeline problems and solutions, but something that changes in terms of decades is much more difficult to realize and to deal with.

Magnuson reported on his long-term ice cover research which shows that during the past 150 years there are 19 fewer days of ice coverage on Lake Mendota per 100 years. Where ice used to cover the lake for four months, now there is less than three months of ice coverage. The years of the longest coverage of ice were between 1850 and 1900, and the years of the shortest are within the last 50 years.

"Ice is a miner's canary," Magnuson said.

And, of course the canary can detect changes that people may not detect, and which may later lead to important changes for natural resources and for people.

Ice coverage research in the northern hemisphere has shown ice loss to be global in the northern hemisphere. On at least 17 lakes, the date of ice going off the lake is coming sooner, and winter air temperatures are warmer.

"We are losing winter as we knew it," Magnuson said.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the fact that there is a warming climate is unequivocal, and it is very likely due to an increase in greenhouse gas concentrations.

The changes can mean that Wisconsin's natural resources could look more like those currently in Missouri or Arkansas in the future. We could see more extreme weather events, due to changes in the hydrologic cycle, leading to increased stream flow in rivers such as the Yahara and Mississippi.

The distribution of fishes could change, which could decimate local species and lose biodiversity.

Chris Kucharik, of the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison, showed photos of dramatic shrinkage of glaciers and sea ice, stating that, "The debate on global warming is over. It is time to move on."

In Wisconsin, weather records from 1950 to 2006 show the annual mean daily high temperature is warmer, while nighttime lows also are warmer.

Some of the changes will affect agriculture, forestry and tourism, with summers becoming similar to summers in Arkansas. Trout streams may see warming temperatures, bass (which inhabit warmer waters) may be found further north, invasive species may increase, and groundwater recharge may be reduced leading to declines in lake levels.

John Lyons, fishery researcher with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said that a predicted one-to five-degree Celsius increase in summer air and water temperatures could have the affect of increasing the number of warmwater streams, thus reducing the number of streams capable of supporting trout populations.

Matt Mitro, of the DNR, said that Wisconsin currently has 44,000 river miles of which 10,371 miles are trout streams.

Mitro predicted that a 5-degree increase in temperatures could result in the loss of all brook trout streams in the state, and a decrease in 96 percent of the brown trout streams.

Glen Gunterspergen, of the U.S. Geological Survey in Superior, said that the prairie pothole region of the United States is very sensitive to climate variability, and the possibility of a three degree-Celsius increase in temperatures by 2100 would have the effect of shifting the nesting area to the south and east, which has already been drained and contains far less nesting habitat.

Researchers are predicting significant consequences from global warming. The question is: What are people willing to do about it?

Are we willing to pay for renewable power, use mass transportation while reducing air travel (which produces large amounts of emissions), buy locally produced agricultural products, and avoid extra packaging on products?

Are we willing to use less hot water, turn off electronic devices not in use, increase the number of miles walked and biked while reducing miles driven in a car, and look for other ways to decrease carbon being emitted into the atmosphere?

The questions are many. The answers go back to whether people are willing to be the change they want to see in the world.

Tim Eisele
Special to The Capital Times  —  12/19/2007 8:36 am