Climate Change in DuPage County
Recently about 400 community members gathered at Northern Illinois University’s Naperville Campus for the DuPage Environmental Summit.
The 15th annual event hosted by the Conservation Foundation and DuPage County discussed how climate change is affecting the local area.
A topic discussed at the event was the impact flooding has in DuPage County. One exhibit, of the 20 that were there, illustrated how storm water disperses throughout high area, into the lower sections.
“This is very important to have to illustrate the different issues as it relates to storm water,” said Kurt Hanson, an environmental specialist at Christopher B. Burke Engineering. “Both storm water capacity and the location of where you will or will not want to build.”
After community members toured other exhibits, Dr. Douglas Stotz, a senior conservation ecologist at the Field Museum, gave a presentation on climate change.
Climate Change Impact
He said in the last 30 years we’ve seen an increase of one degree in the Chicago land area, but estimates by the end of the century that number could be up to 10.
“Even if we go great with our use of carbon tomorrow, which there’s no evidence that will happen, we have climate change built into the system. So we’ll look at probably 4-5 degree regardless,” said Stotz.
Stotz said using public transportation and riding a bicycle when the weather permits, are ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
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