Illinois Faces More than 9.6 Degree Increase Over Next 100 Years

New Analysis by The Nature Conservancy Shows Climate Change Scenarios for Illinois

CHICAGO — August 27, 2009 — Illinois could heat up by 9.6 degrees from climate change by the end of the century – increasing the risk of heat-related deaths, leading to the disappearance of wildlife, changing Lake Michigan and its shoreline and threatening industries such as agriculture.

“From the food we put on the table to the animals that make our state unique, this study shows that none of us is immune if temperatures continue to rise as projected. We can now see that climate change will directly hit us here in Illinois, in our own back yards,” said Bob Moseley, director of conservation for The Nature Conservancy in Illinois. “If we do not act immediately, our children and grandchildren will live in a very different world than we do today.”

Among the impacts Illinois would feel under the temperature increases projected by the Conservancy’s analysis are:

• increased intense storm events will surpass the management capacity of municipalities and add pollution to streams and lakes
• arrival of new insect pests and pathogens will jeopardize Illinois’ native landscape
• warmer temperatures will lower lake levels in Lake Michigan reducing native species habitat, limiting use by people and facilitating the potential invasion of invasive species
• climate-induced mismatch between emergence of insects in the spring and the arrival of hungry birds migrating from the south will disrupt natural patterns and native species

The Conservancy’s temperature analysis looked state-by-state across the country at three emission scenarios based on low, medium and high rates of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere over the next 100 years. Under the highest emission scenario, which assumes carbon dioxide levels will continue to grow, Illinois’ average annual temperature would spike by 9.6 degrees F.

Even under the lowest emission scenario, which assumes the unlikely possibility that the amount of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere each year will decrease, Illinois will heat up by 6.6 degrees F.

Scientists warn that a global temperature increase of the 3.6 degrees F (2 degrees C) or more will lead to irreversible impacts to the Earth’s lands, waters, wildlife and human communities.

“The impacts of climate change will jeopardize the investment society has made in land and water conservation in Illinois,” said Moseley. “Congress must act now to lower our emissions immediately while we still have time.”

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on energy and climate legislation this fall.

Moseley added that action can also be taken on the ground now to combat the impacts of climate change and protect Illinois’ communities and natural resources.

The Nature Conservancy is taking steps to protect the great state of Illinois by:

• leading efforts in the Great Lakes region to help the natural world adapt to a rapidly changing climate
• demonstrating the climate change-fighting value of natural area protection for sequestering atmospheric carbon in native prairies and forests
• reducing the impacts of increased flood frequencies by restoring the function of leveed floodplains
• encouraging households to make informed decisions about how they can help by managing their carbon footprint with the Conservancy’s carbon calculator.

To see projections on how monthly temperatures and precipitation may change for Illinois, visit www.climatewizard.org, a new web tool that, for the first time ever, allows people to use an interactive map to explore past and projected climate change data on their computers. With Climate Wizard, users can zoom in on Illinois to quickly see how temperatures and precipitation may change by month, season or year under different emission scenarios. The Climate Wizard was developed by The Nature Conservancy, the University of Washington and the University of Southern Mississippi.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.