44 Iowa scientists issue joint call for state to address climate change

Forty-four scientists from 28 Iowa colleges and universities have issued a joint call for Iowa legislators to acknowledge and address climate change.

The letter was sent to all Iowa legislators on Tuesday. It  calls for candidates for public office at the national, state and local levels to "acknowledge the overwhelming balance of evidence for the underpinning causes of climate change, to develop appropriate policy responses, and to develop local and statewide strategies to adapt to near-term changes in climate."

The letter was based on the January 2011 report "Climate Change Impacts on Iowa" by the 11-member Iowa Climate Change Impacts Committee to the Iowa General Assembly and governor, according to David Courard-Hauri, a Drake University professor of environmental science and a co-author of the letter.

That report said Iowa's changing climate is already affecting the state's economy and the welfare of its people.

Climate impacts have included a long-term upward trend in precipitation, affecting Eastern Iowa more than Western Iowa, and an increase in extreme heavy summer precipitation in the last 40 years, the report said.

Iowa has also experienced a long-term upward trend in temperature, the report said, with winter temperatures increasing six times more than summer temperatures, and nighttime temperatures increasing more than daytime temperatures since 1970.

Iowa has gained an average of eight to nine more frost free days than 100 years ago, providing a longer growing season, earlier spring melt-off, and longer ice-free periods on waterways.

In recent decades, the letter said, a longer growing season and more precipitation and a lack of extreme high daytime temperatures have contributed to better crop yields. An increase in extreme rainfall events, higher humidity and higher nighttime temperatures have required costly adaptations, the letter noted.

The letter cited "enormous expense to recover from repeated 500-year floods." Ames, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Iowa City all have suffered multimillion dollar losses since 1993, the letter said, and 85 of Iowa's 99 counties were declared federal disaster areas in 2008 alone.

All major scientific societies and the United States National Academy of Science have affirmed the recent rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have contributed to changes in climate, the letter said.

In addition to faculty from Iowa's three Regents institutions, the signers included faculty from several private and community colleges. They included faculty members from Coe College, Cornell College and Kirkwood Community College in the Corridor.