Reducing greenhouse gases & improving water quality
Natural Climate Solutions are land management, protection and restoration practices that hold carbon and other nutrients in the soil while removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
We must also remove and store carbon from the atmosphere. Natural climate solutions provide an immediate solution—our own environment has the inherent capability to serve as a massive carbon sink.
Practices that store carbon in soils simultaneously provide improvements to soil health and fertility, local water quality, and resilience of farmland against the effects of a changing climate.
Natural Climate Solutions are relatively low-cost and can be implemented now.
Wisconsin needs bold, science-based policy and collaboration across all sectors to reverse the decline of our water resources and fight the challenges posed by climate change.
Thirty percent of Wisconsin’s land is used for agriculture —more than 14 million acres. But all that production comes with a cost:
Agriculture is responsible for 15% of Wisconsin’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and that contribution is growing.
Mono-cropping (the practice of growing a single crop year after year on the same land) has led to tired soils, resulting in nutrient loss and erosion.
Over-application of fertilizer is harming groundwater, streams, rivers and lakes.
But there are solutions, and Wisconsin farmers can lead the way.
The Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) is a statewide collaboration of scientists and stakeholders formed as a partnership between UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. WICCI’s goals are to evaluate climate change impacts on Wisconsin and foster solutions.
Read the 2021 Assessment Report here.
Green infrastructure practices like building bioswales around parking lots and streets to capture polluted storm runoff, installing rain gardens and green roofs, planting trees, and developing green spaces help reduce the risk of flooding and keep our waterways healthy. But they also capture carbon from the atmosphere through sequestration and help communities become more resilient in the face of worsening severe weather brought by climate change.
Find out more about Clean Wisconsin’s green infrastructure and community engagement program here.
Wisconsin needs science-based policy and cohesive collaboration across all sectors if we are to leave a healthier legacy for our children and future generations. Clean Wisconsin’s Science Team is analyzing the most effective Natural Climate Solutions for sequestering carbon and other greenhouse gases in Wisconsin.
Farmers need technical assistance to understand and install conservation and regenerative practices, and financial resources to make these investments. Farmers and land managers who improve water quality, safeguard our climate, and protect our natural resources should be compensated for protecting our environment. We must also enact policies that protect valuable natural resources like wetlands, prairies, and forests that are critical to cleaning up our water resources and confronting climate change.
