As Wisconsin wraps the summer with some of the most torrential rainfalls on record, experts say the rise of greenhouse gas emissions from reliance on fossil fuels is worsening climate change events here, and across the country.
When fossil fuels are burned for transportation and producing electricity, they release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Penn State University Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Science Kenneth Davis said carbon dioxide makes up about 85% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
"And that is the principal source to the atmosphere from humans," said Davis, "that is driving current climate change."
Davis said power plants represent the largest point sources of CO2 emissions, and Wisconsin is home to two of the top 100 most polluting power plants in the U.S. according to the Wisconsin Environment Research and Policy Center.
Supporters of fossil fuels say they provide cheap, reliable energy needed for economic development.
Some carbon dioxide is necessary for Earth’s atmosphere. The problem, said Davis, is there's too much of it.
He explained that it's been buried underground for hundreds of millions of years in deposits of oil, coal and natural gas. The concentration is now intensifying weather events, from hurricanes to heat waves.
"So, when we take that stuff out of the ground and burn it," said Davis, "that carbon is then released to the – you can think of it as the active system of the Earth's atmosphere and biosphere – and it stays in that system for hundreds to thousands of years into the future, changing the Earth's climate."
The growth of data centers is expected to increase demand for electricity. Davis said how the U.S. meets that demand will impact future generations.
He emphasized that the country has the technology to reduce its fossil fuel dependence, but needs the political will to approach the transition with greater seriousness to avoid hitting what he calls a climate threshold.
"Beyond this point, we're going to enter terrain that we really don't understand well, and it's increasingly dangerous," said Davis. "We need to stop emitting CO2 into the atmosphere. We need to quit using the atmosphere as a garbage dump for our exhaust."
Davis added that the least expensive way to do this would be to increase the nation's reliance on renewable energy like solar and wind.
