I live in Madison, Wisconsin, a state in the Midwest of the United States. My city is surrounded by four freshwater lakes and an ample aquifer under us. My state is bordered by two of our country's Great Lakes, some of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world. So when I think about climate . change, I'm not really worried about lack of water. My city is 873 feet above sea level. So when I think about climate change, I'm not really worried about sea level rising and affecting my city. Predictions say that in the next 30-50 years, due to climate change and global warming, the temperatures of my state will rise a couple of degrees. I'm a gardener, and frankly, this will increase what I can grow, an oddly ironic benefit of climate change.
Last week, my city received 15 inches of rain (38 cm) over a 12-hour
period. This "100-year" rain event resulted in unprecedented flooding
throughout the city. Our lakes are swollen and a dam is threatened with
overflow or worse, bursting. Low-lying areas outside the city are inundated with water because the ground is saturated and the rivers have nowhere to take the extra water. In the city, streets near the lakes and low-lying roads are closed due to flooding. Our city has four main roads from one side of the city to the other -- three are closed or partially closed due to flooding. Because more rain is on the way, and the lakes are continuing to rise as water from other areas continues to flow into them, buildings are being evacuated and property owners are constructing sandbag walls around buildings to keep the water out. The city's metro bus system has eliminated fares for the next week to encourage more ridership to reduce vehicles on our limited roads. The city is waving the fee to dispose of electronics to keep them out of the landfill, which is about to fill up with lots of other water-logged personal property.
So climate change is absolutely affecting my city, state and region,
because extreme weather events are one of the many effects of climate change, such as sudden and massive rainfalls.
Joshua Feyen
Madison, Wisconsin, USA