UNDATED (WSAU-WXPR) – While national and inter-national leaders focus on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, work to adapt to affects of climate change are being done on a local level.
The U.S. Geological Survey recently announced the creation of the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center Consortium.
Olivia LeDee is the acting federal director of the Science Center. “We are about delivering science to help wildlife, ecosystems, and people adapt to changing climates. We work with Department of Interior, state, tribal nations, and other partners create research and tools that can be applied directly to adaptation decisions.”
The Science Center is already working on 17 projects across the Midwest. They range from fish habitat sustainability to wild rice restoration.
LeDee says the research is focused on what will be the most negative impacts of climate change and how we adapt to lessen that impact. “Our five issues that we’re really going to be focusing on are heavy rainfall and drought, loss of winter, ultra-hydrological regimes, novel terrestrial landscapes, and barriers to and opportunities for adaptation.”
The Science Center is based at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment.
The consortium will include the University of Wisconsin, the College of Menominee Nation, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Michigan State University, Indiana University, the University of Illinois, and the Nature Conservancy.
Comments