The annual Iowa Climate Statement, an overview of the impact of climate change on Iowa and its people, was endorsed by over 100 professors from 38 Iowa colleges.

“There’s always this issue of climate change, it talks in global terms, and it’s [the Iowa Climate Statement] a way of trying to really bring it home to people in our state,” said William Gutowski Jr., professor of meteorology at Iowa State and co-signer of the statement.

“One issue concerning scientists is the increase in precipitation, resulting in more frequent floods,” the statement said. “Iowans are experiencing the very real impacts of climate change, including heavier rains in spring, increased flooding, and a longer growing season.”

The heavier rains and increased flooding have affected Iowans for some time, said Jim Raich, professor of ecology at Iowa State and co-signer of the statement.

“There are very good records from Iowa that go back 100 years that say precipitation is increasing,” Raich said.

Along with the increase in precipitation, continued loss of wetlands and diminished flood zones also have a heavy impact on flooding. Raich said places that used to be flood planes are being plowed over and converted into urban areas. This causes the land to no longer be able to absorb or store water, leaving the water no place to go but the city streets and farm lands, causing destruction and flooding.

Although city flooding is a problem, it’s not the biggest issue, Raich said. Many sewage treatment plants and industrial areas are in flood zones.

“When floods occur, instead of treating sewage, it gets released without treatment directly into the waters to save the water treatment plants,” Raich said. “This is really bad.” 

According to the statement, a less obvious issue caused by climate change is the impact on respiratory and cardiovascular health. With hotter temperatures and more carbon dioxide in the air, plants are able to produce not only more pollen, but also pollen with a higher allergen content. Longer growing seasons cause longer allergy seasons.

William Beavis, professor in agronomy, said moving to renewable energy sources in the United States alone will not solve the problem.

“You can imagine that the entire United States might go solar tomorrow,” Beavis said. “We wouldn’t see any benefit from that right away because we still have China and India that are dumping lots more carbon into the atmosphere then we are.”

According to Beavis, the Midwest has the highest level of photosynthesis, meaning that the Midwest pulls more carbon out of the atmosphere than anywhere else on the planet.

“But, we pull all that carbon out of the atmosphere in July,” Beavis said. “It basically ends up on the ground and microorganisms turn it loose and it either ends up in ethanol plants, or in pigs and cows or it ends up lying on the ground. And in all of those instances, it’s returned to the atmosphere.”

Even if it was possible to completely reverse the effects of greenhouse gasses, Gutowski predicts it will still take decades before climate change comes to a halt.

Gutowski does not see the statement as a way to fight climate change. He sees it as a way to inform the public.

“Any one document is not going to have an impact. I think that is part of why some version of this letter has been released year after year,” Gutowski said. “Part of it is also to just educate the people, wanting to provide the best science, so that when people start talking about decisions that need to be made we can help inform them,” Gutowski said.

One reason Raich thinks the statement is released each year is to improve public awareness of climate change. He said he believes the key to climate change is voting for candidates who believe in environmental protection. Raich said he wants Iowans to know they have the right to a better climate.

“The airs of our state are public property that are being impacted by private activities,” Raich said. “The waters are public property that are being impacted by private practices. I think that that awareness needs to come out, and people need to say ‘I want clean air. I want clean water.'”

The key, Raich said, is through collaboration and an Iowa that cares about improving the climate.

“I’m absolutely convinced that [climate change can be reversed]. It would require dramatic social change, but I think we can do that and have the right to do it,” Raich said.