Report also cites effects
on forests, lakes
Judith Davidoff — 5/30/2007
Wisconsin's sacred cows -- literally, that is -- may be in
danger from global warming.
According to a report released
today, if temperatures continue to rise, the state's cattle will be at
increased risk from heat stress, which can reduce milk production. Heat stress
already costs Wisconsin dairy farmers $60
million a year, the report says.
"There are 1,250,000 cows
in Wisconsin
and 14,250 dairymen living here because they like the climate as it is
now," John Vrieze, president of the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association,
said in a news release. "With potential impacts to our environment caused
by global warming, we'll have to deal with growing numbers and species of
insects and other pests, increased energy use to keep our cows cool and
comfortable, and a change in our cropping practices," added Vrieze, who is
also a member of Gov. Jim Doyle's Global Warming Task Force.
Rising temperatures will
affect "all the things that make Wisconsin
great -- its farms, forests and waterways," said Dan Kohler, director of
Wisconsin Environment, a new group that is splitting off from Wisconsin Public
Interest Research Group (WISPIRG). The group released its report, "An
Unfamiliar State: How Global Warming Could Change Natural Wisconsin," at a
news conference this morning at the Wisconsin Memorial Union.
"This is the first time
anybody has put together a comprehensive report on impacts specific to Wisconsin," Kohler
said in an interview.
Kohler said the impacts of
global warming on Wisconsin's
climate and culture run deep, affecting hunters, anglers, farmers, hikers and
birders, among others.
According to the report,
average temperatures in Wisconsin
rose by 0.7 degrees during the 20th century. As a result, Wisconsin's lakes no longer freeze as long
as they once did, summer flooding has increased, and plants bloom earlier each
spring.
If things continue as is,
"brook trout and rainbow trout will all but disappear in Wisconsin within 100 years," Kohler
said.
By the end of the century,
temperatures could increase by another 2 to 11.5 degrees.
Wisconsin is, in fact, a "significant contributor" to
global warning. Between 1990 and 2005, carbon dioxide emissions increased by 25
percent. "Were Wisconsin its own country,
it would rank 38th in the world for carbon dioxide emissions, ahead of such
nations as Romania, Austria, Sweden
and Israel,"
according to the report.
The report, a compilation of
research already done on global warning, found that:
- Ice
cover on the Great Lakes and inland lakes
is expected to decline and water temperatures are expected to increase.
This could harm fisheries by decreasing the oxygen supply in lakes during
the summer.
- Global
warming could reduce or eliminate the habitat of such tree species as
balsam fir, paper birch, white spruce, jack pine and red pine, and hurt
the state's pulp and paper and softwood industries.
Kohler said Tuesday his group
would launch a plan to reduce emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by
2050.
"Those targets are in
line with a broad consensus of the scientific community of what is needed to
prevent the worst impacts of global warming," Kohler said.
Judith Davidoff — 5/30/2007 11:16 am
