Statement on Climate Change

Picturesque downtown Milwaukee, as well as surrounding areas, will be impacted by climate change through shifting water levels, weather patterns, and water quality.

Decades of scientific evidence have made it abundantly clear that Earth’s climate is rapidly warming. Global climate change is a threat recognized by the vast majority of scientists, as well as many scientific organizations including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the American Meteorological Society, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. According to NASA, climate warming trends over the past century are “extremely likely due to human activities,” with 97% of actively publishing climate scientists in agreement. The threats posed by anthropogenic climate change are myriad: rising sea levels endanger the safety of hundreds of millions living in coastal areas, severe weather becomes more regular, and ocean acidification destroys some of Earth’s most precious ecosystems. The Midwest United States will see extreme heat and frequent flooding if climate change is not mitigated. Such changes threaten the health of our rivers and the Great Lakes, potentially causing massive harm to Southeastern Wisconsin’s infrastructure, economy, water quality, and public health. Sweet Water is committed to restoring the Greater Milwaukee watersheds to conditions suitable for swimming and fishing, and climate change presents a potentially insurmountable barrier to that mission. We urge our partners and the entire community to take the threat of climate change seriously — we cannot afford to ignore it any longer.