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Published on Thursday, January 12, 2017

Wisconsin Agency Removes Online Climate Change Info

[NOT GOOD]

Wisconsin Agency Removes Online Climate Change Info
Just as we feared, before Trump has even officially taken power, state officials are removing valuable climate change data from public websites. As previously reported, climate change scientists were quickly working to move publicly accessible data to private servers in case Trump and his team decided to erase the data in order to push their own anti-climate change agenda. Sadly, the scientists’ fears have now come true. 

What was changed?
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources made some startling alterations to their website at the end of 2016. On a webpage that talks about the Great Lakes, the department removed the following sentence, “Earth’s climate is changing. Human activities that increase heat-trapping ('greenhouse') gases are the main cause.” Instead, they replaced it with this controversial, climate change denying statement, “As it has done throughout the centuries, the earth is going through a change. The reasons for this change at this particular time in the earth’s long history are being debated and researched by academic entities outside the Department of Natural Resources.” If that sounds familiar it’s because it’s eerily close to Donald Trump’s latest assertion that no one knows if climate change is really happening and if it’s really caused by humans. Of course, scientists and the rest of the educated world, begs to differ.   

This change by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources made on December 21, 2016 is not the first incidence of tampering or changing information by the department. A teaching guide on climate change was also recently removed from the website. The department attempted to explain the removal of the teaching guide by stating that they were handing it over to University of Wisconsin's Stevens Point for further review. Also missing is the work by former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. Governor Doyle had developed the Task Force on Global Warming. In 2008, Doyle and his team produced a report that detailed ways to reduce carbon emissions. Unfortunately, information on the Task Force and the findings from the report have been largely erased from the state website. The report itself can only be found on a separate, non-government, internet archive website. 

Why was it changed? 
Many believe that the deleted or altered information is a direct result of the beliefs of the current administration. Current Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is a strong Republican and has made no apology for his stance on climate change. Under his administration, climate issues have fallen to the back burner in Wisconsin. Walker has also been publicly critical of President Obama’s initiatives to fight climate change and reduce carbon emissions. Those following his political journey say he has been working to de-emphasize climate change since taking office in 2011. 

When asked about the change on their webpage, the department was vague about their specific beliefs but did state that the current webpage reflects their position. They went on to say that their agency has to regularly respond to a variety of human and environmental stressors and would prefer to focus on adaptation. Critics take that to mean that they would rather prioritize adaptation over finding a root cause or preventing the problems all together.

What the scientific community is saying
Of course, as we have reported previously, the scientific community is not in a debate over the cause of climate change. There is broad scientific consensus that climate change is an urgent problem, currently happening and largely due to manmade carbon emissions. The department is correct in stating that research is occurring, but that research is no longer trying to answer the question of whether or not climate change is happening. We know the answer to that question. 

In 2014, the United Nations published a report saying that the human influence on climate change was clear and that global greenhouse gas emissions were the highest they had been in history. The report went on to say that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and gave examples of warmer oceans, diminished ice and rising sea levels since 1950 base levels. Since 1990, this was the 5th report the United Nations released on the topic of climate change and global warming. And yet, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources still thinks the issue is up for debate.  

Reactions to the changed and missing info

Unfortunately, the department’s choice to delete and alter information doesn’t come as a surprise to some. Paul Robbins, from the Nelson Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that when climate change is as politicized as it is in current conversation, it’s no wonder that government agencies want to be picky about their wording. Robbins’ team has worked with the department on how to combat global warming, but notes that the budget for their work has shrunk in recent years. Joel Brammeier, president of the Alliance for The Great Lakes, put it more plainly when he said, “I don’t understand the need for the changes. To me, it looks like they are trying to cover up a debate that really isn’t happening.” We couldn’t agree more. 

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Author: Ccarrell

Categories: Blogs, Climate & Weather

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