How Michigan forests can do more to help protect the planet
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EmailLauren Cooper and Kylie Clay publish opinion piece in the Detroit Free Press titled "How Michigan forests can do more to help protect the planet."
Michiganders love the lands and waters across our state. Whether we’re farmers, hunters, skiers, swimmers, campers, hikers or just delight in apple picking in the fall, we’re proud and protective of our expansive lakes and natural splendor.
Yet climate change is already a real and tangible threat to these Michigan natural resources, the livelihoods that depend on them, and our lifestyles in the great outdoors. With record high temperatures, devastating floods and shifts in seasonal frosts and growing seasons, climate change is impacting our lakes, forests, wildlife habitats and agricultural land. And, in turn, this threatens recreation, food production (including our prized tart cherries), timber and other forest products, and hunting. These threats increase each year.
The world’s top climate science body, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has been very clear: Keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius to prevent catastrophic climate change impacts can only be achieved by drastically cutting emissions, while also removing the excess carbon dioxide already in our atmosphere.
