Recently, we found out that the mean temperatures for the year had increased four degrees for the state of Wisconsin. What does that mean to us? Four degrees doesn’t seem like a big change, or does it?

According to the Sea Grant Institute of the University of Wisconsin, that four degrees is quite a change, especially considering that 2/3 of that change came within the last 30 years.

According to records kept at Aldo Leopold’s cabin in Baraboo, geese are returning a month earlier and plants are blooming a week earlier in the spring compared to the records of 70 years ago.

The University of Madison conducts a study of the lakes, to keep track of the changes over time. They have been keeping this type of statistic for 150 years. Changes in climate have now shown that the ten longest periods of ice coverage for the year happened over 100 years ago. Additionally, in retrospect 7 of the 10 shortest years for ice coverage happened in the last 50 years and the four shortest ever happened in the last 25 years.

At this time the trend for the climate appears to be higher temperatures, on average, across the board. What this means for Lake Mendota and other area lakes is the typical ice coverage is now three months long, while in comparison it was four months long 150 years ago.

This climate change will bring a longer breeding season for mice, bats, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, and opossums. On the flip side, it will provide for longer ice-free shipping lines on both the Great Lakes and the Upper Mississippi River.

For those towns in Wisconsin that lean on their tourism and recreation dollars, it may behoove them to look for leaner times for winter sports and a more robust season for those summer activities.

On the minus side, it may bring higher summer cooling costs with longer heatwaves and possible ozone alerts. What does this mean for you and your indoor air quality?

What we see is a home system that is getting substantially more summer use, making the need for replacing your unit before winter more likely. Call us today for a consultation on whether it’s time to update your home air quality system.

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