Climate change - what does this mean for Iowa?

LWV Ames has a treasure in their midst - Erv Klaas, Professor Emeritus of Animal Ecology at Iowa State.  Erv is a member of LWV Ames, and is their delegate to LWV UMRR.  On Monday, October 7, we were fortuate to have Professor Klaas as our first speaker in the afternoon session of our bi-monthly Board meeting.  The video of his talk is posted below.

Professor Klaas' talk focused first on the scientific basis of climate change and what it will mean for Iowa.  For Iowa and the Upper Mississippi, it will mean that farmers will face more wet weather, affecting both planting and harvest.   

The Gulf of Mexico is getting warmer, meaning that more water evaporates from the surface causing humidity to build inland.  This humidity rides northward on the Great Plains Lower Level Jetstream, fueling increased rainfall in our region.  More rain events with more rain.  Larger storms with more water, storms that linger in areas longer and cause severe flooding.   

This story from Iowa Public Radio highlights some of the problems that are being faced today in southwest Iowa.   Here, severe flooding has affected the area three times this summer, with some families kept from their homes since spring.  This article in the Des Moines Register describes what folks there are going through there. 

Professor Klaas referenced work by Iowa State's Dr. Eugene Takle, who's work on climate and weather has documented clear causal relationship between climate change and the extreme rainfall events that our region is experiencing.  The graphic below shows the increase in rainfall graphed with the increase in Green House Gases (GHG).  In the video above, Professor Klaas brought this data to life.