Experts Say Minnesota Is Already Facing Effects Of Climate Change

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — World leaders met successful Scotland Monday successful bid to accelerate plans to curb clime change. Experts successful Minnesota accidental the authorities is already grappling with its effects.

Data shows that Minnesota has warmed 3 degrees successful the past 125 years. Annual precipitation has accrued by 3.4 inches.

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“You don’t person to look precise acold to spot thing successful your beingness that you attraction about—whether that’s economical impacts; impacts to your community’s infrastructure; your quality to person clean, harmless drinking water; your quality to spell recreate successful our forests oregon beauteous lakes,” said Heidi Roop, an adjunct prof of clime subject astatine the University of Minnesota. “This iconic Minnesota is astatine hazard from a changing clime and we’re already seeing those changes unfold earlier our eyes.”

State climatologist Kenneth Blumenfeld said the main symptoms of a warming satellite felt successful Minnesota are warmer temperatures, particularly during winter, and utmost precipitation.

Each of the apical 10 combined warmest and wettest years connected grounds occurred betwixt 1998 and 2020. The frequencies of -35° F readings successful bluish Minnesota and -25° F readings successful the southbound person fallen by up to 90%, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Heavy rainfall tin “overwhelm” communities without the infrastructure to grip it, Blumenfeld said.

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Overall our authorities is getting wetter, but the frequence of drier summers—and droughts—could worsen successful the future, characterized by much utmost vigor if things don’t instrumentality a crook for the better.

“So it looks similar we’re getting hotter either way. But the question is: Will we get hotter benignant of gradually, oregon bash we get hotter successful a mode that we’re not prepared for astatine all?” Blumenfeld said.

In Glasgow, Scotland, planetary leaders astatine the United Nations are trying to get the satellite backmost connected way to conscionable goals acceptable distant by the Paris Climate agreement, which see reducing planetary c emissions to zero by 2050 and limiting the planet’s wide warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, oregon 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

“I don’t deliberation we tin understate the value of the COP26 conference, and much importantly, addressing the challenges that we look from clime alteration astatine each levels and scales of governance,” Roop said.

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