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The Earth’s climate has changed a lot throughout all geological epochs. However, what is most interesting is primarily the short period associated with the development of human society during and after the Industrial Revolution. Evaluating this period, it becomes evident that there has been a trend that shows an increase in the harm of the main meteorological elements since the end of the nineteenth century. At the moment, people are living in a period of anthropogenic warming. The last decades are the warmest in the history of meteorological observations. Milwaukee officials are apparently concerned about climate change in the city, but it seems that the measures taken so far are not enough. Climate change can have a catastrophic impact on residents’ well-being, health, and standard of living. The fight against climate change in Milwaukee must be as aggressive as possible to prevent the destruction of ecosystems and the degradation of human life.
It is worth noting that the history of meteorological observations is not too long – the most extended series are 300-350 years. Indeed, if distant geology is taken as an example – there were intense climate change processes. Today, people reap the fruits of these processes in the form of oil, gas, coal, and other minerals formed because there were ideal conditions for it. However, with regard to the modern climatic period, people need to understand one crucial feature. Global warming does not mean that everywhere is getting warmer because this is not the case. There are even some areas where there may be cooling. And this is normal because the planet Earth has a complex structure. A lot of factors influence the local manifestations of specific climatic parameters. For example, it is the continents, how they are located, currents, and other features.
Being in the United States, the traveler does not have time to readjust from one region to another. The states are so different from each other that it seems as if a round-the-world trip is taking place. This diversity is especially evident when flying over the United States in an airplane. On the one hand, there are arid areas of deserts with abnormal heat and cacti. During the hot seasons, thirst becomes a real threat to human life. However, as in a fairy tale, people can find themselves in the land of mountain peaks with no melting snow in a very short flight. The climate of each region of the United States is greatly influenced by many factors that make it so variegated.
Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and the 25th most populous city in the United States. It is located on the southwest shores of Lake Michigan. Milwaukee’s annual air quality is rated good on average. Wet continental climates in places like Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Scandinavia rely heavily on maritime exposure, experiencing freezing winters and relatively cool summers. The American Midwest and southern Siberia have more extreme wet continental climates. People who live there experience freezing winters and hotter summer highs compared to maritime regions. Areas such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have wet continental climates characterized by both strong subarctic and subtropical air masses but depend primarily on the season.
AQI ratings show that the air in this city poses little or no risk to human health. Despite generally clean air, the federal target for the number of days allowed with unhealthy ozone is exceeded in Milwaukee. The American Lung Association uses federal air pollution limits to assess air quality in U.S. counties and regions. During the monitoring period (from 2016 to 2018), Milwaukee received a passing grade of “A” for both annual and daily PM2.5 pollution but received a negative grade of “F” for ozone (IQAir). Data collected in the Atmospheric Report shows that Milwaukee has not reached ozone levels since at least 1996 (IQAir). Milwaukee, however, was very close to reaching between 2013 and 2015, with a weighted average of 3.3 unhealthy ozone days (IQAir). It should be noted. However, ozone levels have improved since then.
In general, Milwaukee’s air quality is worse during the winter months. A weather phenomenon known as a cold air inversion is responsible for the elevated pollution levels during this season. Cold surface smog is trapped beneath the warmer layer of air above during a cold air inversion. Although emissions may remain relatively constant, the trapping effect causes pollution to build up, increasing pollution levels, measured by Milwaukee. Rising temperatures are most pronounced in the northern territories. The climate, which has been stable for decades, for centuries, is changing. And these changes affect everything, including infrastructure, human life, and the activities of economic entities.
Ozone, a key component of smog, is formed when sunlight and heat interact with air pollutants; the latter include nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions are major sources of ozone precursor pollutants. Ozone problems in Milwaukee are associated with summer since winter does not provide ideal conditions for the formation of dangerous levels. The highest levels are often observed during daylight hours and around rush hour. Elevated ozone levels can exacerbate respiratory problems, especially in children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing heart and lung disease. Common adverse health effects may include chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and throat irritation.
Milwaukee’s location on the shores of Lake Michigan, as well as its extensive railroad infrastructure, made it an important industrial center. Like most northern industrial cities in the United States, Milwaukee has experienced periods of rapid growth, most recently in the 1950s (Britannica). By the mid-1960s, Milwaukee’s population had reached its historic peak, primarily due to the large influx of immigrants from Europe and African Americans from the south (Britannica). As a typical industrial belt city, Milwaukee was hit hard by industrial decline and white flight from the city. Plant closures and job losses caused Milwaukee to experience all the problems of the Rust Belt cities, also named for the fact that abandoned factories and businesses were guarded only by closed, rusting gates. The industry is a major source of emissions, so Milwaukee’s cloudy air is often the result of smog, a combination of particulate matter and ozone pollution.
Switching to cleaner vehicles represents one of the most excellent opportunities to further reduce Milwaukee’s air quality index. More efficient, low-emission vehicles can significantly reduce the city’s emissions. In most cities in the United States, automobile emissions account for 50 to 60 percent of total emissions (European Parliament). Exhaust fumes are the product of internal combustion engines. Given the rapid growth in the number of vehicles in recent years and the increase in private cars in cities, exhaust fumes have settled in cities’ air seriously and for a long time, and their number is only growing. Nowadays, exhaust fumes are the leading cause of urban air pollution; they have a permanent impact on human health. Because of motor transport, it rains acid rain, creates a colored fog, and causes dark snow. Of course, the precipitation cleans the air a little, but all the collected dirt gets into the soil, which causes general pollution – the environment with exhaust gases. The same compounds and heavy metals spread further through the ground: they get into animals’ food and into agricultural crops.
As the commonness and harshness of wildfires are expected to grow with climate change, the frequency and severity of Milwaukee’s haze may also increase during the wildfire season. Smog is most often observed during extensive forest and peat fires, as well as when dusty air is carried away from deserts. It is associated with air pollution from vehicles and industrial plants in stable anticyclonic weather. Aside from that, Wisconsin is warmer and wetter than ever before. The frequency and intensity of precipitation will increase as temperatures rise. Increased rainfall will lead to increased water turbidity due to soil erosion and other climate-driven changes in sediment quantity and quality. Intense and prolonged downpours are becoming more and more common, which is a tangible consequence of climate change.
In 2018, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced that the city would meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement. He planned to convert a quarter of the city’s electricity sources to renewable solar and wind power by 2025 (Dirr). Switching to renewable energy is a critical part of the fight against climate change. Unlike fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium ore, these energy sources do not deplete. Solar panels can produce energy in cloudy weather and even in snowfall. For the highest efficiency, they should be installed at a certain angle – the farther from the equator, the greater the angle of installation of the panels. Wind power is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy technologies.
In 2020, despite the pandemic and economic recession, many cities, countries, and companies continued to announce or implement decarbonization plans (Mcalister). Serious steps toward the energy transition are expected from U.S. President Joe Biden. Individual cities worldwide are also striving to become climate neutral, as is Milwaukee proper (Burakoff). In an effort to end fossil fuel infrastructure, Project 350 Milwaukee was created. It envisions the participation of Wisconsin in phasing out funding for fossil fuel institutions.
Deteriorating lake water quality and rising temperatures are real threats to Milwaukee. The possibility of deterioration of water quality remains even in the case of pre-treatment of effluent discharged into the water. This is because trace amounts of residuals after treatment can significantly degrade the quality of the water during further treatment. The city’s drinking water was found to be rich in the lead after the city switched from Lake Huron to the Flint River as its water source (City of Milwaukee). The water was never treated with anti-corrosion additives as required by federal law, so it destroyed the iron water mains and collected lead. When Flint residents got media attention, it turned into a national scandal that lasted for years and is still unresolved. The American Water Works Association estimates that the cost of rebuilding underground pipelines in the United States will be at least $1 trillion over the next 25 years (Deloitte). This amount does not include the cost of building new infrastructure or repairing wastewater treatment plants.
An increase in water temperature affects the rate of biogeochemical and ecological processes that determine water quality. Waterborne diseases enter peoples’ bodies along with algae and bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal complications (Garner). Historically in the U.S., two-thirds of the increase in the number of such diseases occurred immediately after abnormally heavy rainfall due to disruption of local water supplies. Salmonella concentrations in streams, for example, increase significantly after heavy rains. The largest epidemic of waterborne diseases occurred in 1993 when more than 400,000 Milwaukee residents contracted cryptosporidiosis immediately after a storm (Nowakowski). Changes in the habitats and distribution of aquatic organisms, eutrophication of water, and the accelerated development of harmful algae are just some of the effects of global warming.
Paradoxically, as environmental degradation becomes pervasive, awareness of its adverse effects may require more and more effort. When poverty grips not individual communities but whole regions and countries, conditions that once seemed unbearable will become the norm for future generations – they will know nothing else. In the past, people have watched in horror as population growth has slowed in countries that have gone through famine, whether caused by natural causes (Sudan, Somalia) or man-made (Yemen, North Korea). In the future, this may become a reality for all people, and there will no longer be a control group for comparison. Milwaukee is a city where climate change can have a devastating impact on its fortunes. State authorities, as well as locals, are concerned about rising temperatures and deteriorating water quality. The measures Milwaukee officials have taken are not yet enough to successfully combat climate change, but the city’s survival depends on it.
Works Cited
Air Quality in Milwaukee. IQAir, Web.
Burakoff, Maddie. Climate Connections: Rising Temperatures Bring Health Risks for Milwaukee, and Some Bear a Bigger Burden. Spectrum News, Web.
CO2 Emissions from Cars: Facts and Figures. European Parliament, Web.
Climate Change is Real. City of Milwaukee, Web.
Dirr, Alison. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s State of the City Address Highlights DNC, Drop in Crime. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Web.
Garner, Alexandra. Local Action Key to Mitigate Global Climate Change. Marquette Wire, Web.
Mcalister, Christina. 350 Milwaukee Emphasizes Urgency of Climate Crisis. Shepherd, Web.
Milwaukee. Britannica, Web.
Nowakowski, Audrey. It’s Something I’ll Never Forget: Cryptosporidium’s Impact on Milwaukeeans. World Union of Wholesale Markets, Web.
The Aging Water Infrastructure: Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Deloitte, Web.
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