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In a year of extreme weather fluctuations, from a record 26 inches of rain in the first six months in northeast Wisconsin to drought conditions and poor air quality from distant wildfires, climate change is happening before our very eyes, experts say.
“Climate change is going to affect everybody. It is important to bring it back to the forefront,” said Bart De Stasio, professor emeritus of biology at Lawrence University in Appleton. “It’s fallen off the radar unfortunately because of the political climate we’re in right now.”
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Climate change costs
Leading up to the November election, affordability has garnered more political attention than the environment, but some Wisconsin residents and scientists say candidates should be diving into climate change in a larger way.
Insurance premiums and taxes often rise after property owners face stormwater damage, said Steve Vavrus, director, Wisconsin State Climatology Office, and co-director, Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI).
“It’s in everybody’s interest, regardless of how people vote, to make sure our environment is in good shape,” Vavrus said. Seasons are becoming warmer, causing more heat stress and extreme weather, such as flooding. Wisconsin’s stormwater management infrastructure often is a century old, Vavrus said, and it can’t keep up with torrential downpours.
Warmer temperatures stem from fossil fuel and methane emissions, De Stasio said.
“The only way we’re going to be able to really change our path here is by continuing to look for other sources of energy” and by mitigating the impacts of manmade pollution, he said. “We’re going to have to adapt. Otherwise, we’re not going to survive this.”
Town of Peshtigo homeowner Jeff Budish couldn’t agree more. “The weather is talking to us. Mother Nature is telling us, ‘Hey, wake up,’” said Budish, a clean water advocate and avid angler.
While Budish blames gas-powered vehicles for much of the pollution causing the greenhouse gas effect, rivers so contaminated the fish aren’t considered safe for human consumption also frustrate him. He lives near the Peshtigo River, just outside of a designated area local residents call “the plume.” The plume is an area where “forever chemicals” stemming from Johnson Controls Inc.’s Tyco fire technology center in Marinette contaminated the groundwater some residents used for drinking water.
Tyco has taken responsibility for the contamination in this limited area, offering to provide new deep wells for some residents, but a recently settled lawsuit could limit its contributions in the future. In the meantime, many residents outside Marinette worry PFAS chemicals found in biosolids are also in runoff headed for waterways.
Warmer rivers
Charles Frisk, a retired Green Bay science teacher, has observed the worsening effects of climate change for several decades. Warmer rivers and lakes mean walleye and trout could become scarce, while bass become more prominent. It also could bring fewer days of cross-country skiing and ice fishing for winter tourism and poorer air quality in the summer from wildfire smoke, he said.
“The rate at which the climate is warming up is just occurring so much more rapidly than what was ever thought,” he said.
In many parts of the country, extreme weather events involve lightning strikes igniting wildfires that burn for days or weeks. Prescribed burns, used for forest and land management, also contribute to the smog that crosses state and national borders.
Envisioning what his granddaughters, ages 3 and 11, are likely to experience in their lifetimes because of climate change worries Frisk. “By the time they are my age, there are going to be major highly populated areas where it’s unlivable” because of the heat, he said.
Wildfire smog
Summer wildfires in Canada and Minnesota sent dangerous particulate material to Wisconsin, impacting air quality, De Stasio said. The particulate matter of less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter can get into people’s lungs and cause breathing problems, he said. When the air quality index hits 200, it becomes unhealthy to be outside, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Wildfires and prescribed burns were linked to 20,000 premature deaths and $200 billion in damages, with a disproportionate number of older adults, Native Americans and African Americans affected, according to a study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.
“The frequency and intensity of these fires has increased,” said Nicholas Muller, professor of economics, engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, who co-authored a 2025 study on the cost of smoke from wildfires and prescribed burns in 2017.
In Green Bay, city officials closed Bay Beach Amusement Park for two days in July due to wildfire smoke.
While some people compared the smog to a campfire’s smoke, Muller said wildfire haze is far more dangerous.
“Around a bonfire, you may get a blast of smoke in the face, but you’re not exposed to the sustained smoke,” Muller said. “When I was walking around (in July), I was aware I was inhaling something. The particles were so abundant, you’re inhaling a high concentration of them.”
Being prepared is one way to lessen the impact of climate change, whether it be wearing a face mask, helping to prevent flooding or contaminated waterways, or cutting back on driving a gas-powered vehicle, experts said.
Flood control
Officials in the village of Allouez plan to construct the municipality’s eighth retention pond in Riverside Park in 2027. The ponds are designed to protect waterways from polluted runoff when stormwater surges. The newest pond is expected to cost taxpayers about $800,000, said Sean Gehin, public works director for the village.
(Courtesy of Jean Marsch)
Still, some residents confronted damp or flooded basements in April and July when streets flooded, Gehin said.
The problem isn’t limited to the Green Bay area, said Jean Marsch, a village of Allouez trustee and 50-year resident. “It’s something all municipalities are dealing with.”
“You can tell flooding is happening all over. You see it and hear about it and know people who have experienced this kind of flooding,” Marsch said.
The city of Green Bay’s Fire Station No. 3 sustained over $50,000 in damage from June 24 flooding that affected the boiler, water heaters and electrical service in the basement.
Other areas of the city also were affected by the deluge, said Valerie Joosten, director of public works. A dollar amount for the damage wasn’t available.
Shared responsibility
While some are skeptical climate change will be addressed on the federal level, Wisconsin has had bipartisan support for flood laws, Marsch said, pointing to Wisconsin Act 265 signed into law in 2024. It created a pre-disaster flood resilience grant program.
Marsch would like to see more government funding to help communities deal with flooding and runoff. Allouez officials also encourage residents to do their part by using rain barrels for their gardens, keeping leaves and grass clippings out of the street and avoiding fertilizers with phosphorus.
“Everybody has a role to play in maintaining the safety and health of our community,” Marsch said. “We all have a role to play in doing what we can.”
This story was produced as part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab, a consortium of five news outlets.
Voters, scientists say candidates should dig into environmental issues is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
