Climate Change

(715) 779-3650       TNR@redcliff-nsn.gov       37295 Community Rd. Bayfield, WI 54814
The Red Cliff Climate Change program is responsible for helping Red Cliff become more resilient to the changing climate. Climate change is already impacting and will continue to impact Red Cliff into the future. The forests, rivers, and lakes are natural systems that may be vulnerable to changing air and water temperatures, fluctuating precipitation patterns and shifting seasons. Human health and the built environment, including roads, culverts, and docks are other systems that will be influenced by climate change.

Red Cliff has already taken many incremental steps to create more resilient systems and increase climate change knowledge. The Red Cliff fisheries program is currently studying historic spawning ground shoals to explore connections between past lake conditions with current and future conditions. Stream temperatures and flows are being studied to help determine impacts of extreme precipitation events and shifting precipitation patterns on streams, roads and culverts. A culvert inventory was conducted in 2016.

By infusing future planning efforts with elements and components of climate change readiness, we can build resiliency across programs and into the lives of people. Writing a climate change adaptation plan will ensure Red Cliff is able to adapt to and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and climate variability. Other tasks include: assembling data and conducting research, partnering with other agencies, conducting workshops and community events, compiling downscaled climate change data, establishing and coordinating the Climate Change Committee, generating reports for federal climate change task forces, and participating in regional climate change conferences.

To find out more information about how the climate has changed since 1955 and how it is predicted to change into the future, click on this link:

http://www.wicci.wisc.edu/climate-change.php

More information about the impacts and adaptation options for northern Wisconsin forests can be found in these two documents:


The National Climate Assessment is an excellent resource for all things climate change:

http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/