Tackling Climate Change in Illinois

Tackling Climate Change Locally

The Illinois Chapter is collaborating with partners on four pathways to tackle the issue of climate change in Illinois and beyond.

Mobilizing Climate Action in Rural Illinois

TNC is working across all 50 states to activate support for durable, bipartisan climate legislation at state and federal levels. In Illinois, we are actively engaging key federal congressional members, members of the Illinois state legislature, state agencies and the Illinois Governor's office to open up dialogue on ambitious climate solutions and science-based climate policy. We are also taking steps to garner support for climate action with new constituencies, especially with our partners in rural Illinois.

Reducing Emissions with Natural Climate Solutions

Efforts to restore, protect and sustainably manage natural areas is a critical component of limiting global warming to well below the 2°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement. In Illinois, the biggest low-cost opportunities for employing natural climate solutions exist in the agricultural sector, using practices that some farmers are already employing to improve soil health, yields and water quality—like incorporating constructed wetlands on farms to reduce runoff. TNC sees a large opportunity to increase uptake of these agricultural best management practices through partnerships, capacity building and sensible climate change policy.

Promoting Low-impact Renewable Energy Deployment

Meeting climate change goals requires the rapid and large-scale deployment of renewable energy, which will invariably have impacts on the land. There are many steps we can take and many upsides to siting new renewable energy development in areas with the fewest adverse impacts to habitat, wildlife and ecosystem services. TNC has developed useful tools and resources to guide decisions around low-impact siting, such as Site Renewables Right and a new pollinator-friendly solar guide in collaboration with Pollinator Partnership. This interactive online map can help to inform turbine siting decisions across the Central United States. In the Illinois Chapter, we are working to increase the use of these tools and to promote the adoption of renewable energy siting guidance into relevant policies and plans.

Explore the other reports, fact sheets and resources that TNC in Illinois and beyond have developed to aid with low-impact renewable energy siting and buildouts.

Minimizing Flood Risk in Rural and Urban Communities

As local average temperatures and extreme weather events increase the frequency and magnitude of flooding and droughts, nature can be used as an important, cost-effective tool to enhance resiliency, helping human and natural systems adapt to the impacts of climate change. In rural areas, landscape approaches to land use planning can help to identify priority areas for floodplain restoration and reconnection—an excellent way to increase flood storage and decrease the flood risk to infrastructure and communities.

In towns and cities, natural infrastructure in the form of bioswales, rain gardens and tree planting, is a low-cost and effective approach for tackling issues like localized flooding, urban heat islands and poor air quality. In Cook County, we're collaborating with partners to bolster natural infrastructure that will allow homeowners to store extra stormwater and minimize flood risk. TNC would like to expand its work on climate adaptation in Illinois, to improve our reach in more communities across the state.

Feature: From the Family Farm to Climate Science

By Lynne Weinberg, TNC member and special contributing writer

In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, when professional weather forecasts were largely limited to radio and television, three boys—Jim Angel, Ken Kunkel and Don Wuebbles—learned early the profound effect of the weather on their families’ Illinois farms. Ultimately, those farms produced not only crops and livestock but three prominent atmospheric scientists, proud of their deep roots in the Illinois soil. Decades later, each of them contributed to the writing of TNC’s Illinois Climate Assessment, which was published in 2021.

Jim Angel recalls his grandparents’ livestock farms: “The number one topic of every farmer was the weather.”  As lllinois State Climatologist (1997-2018), Jim expanded outreach to farmers and city officials to help them understand and adapt to climate change and build resilience to extreme weather events. 

“Using conservation practices on just 10% of a field, farmers can often solve 90% of their runoff and erosion problems. Management practices like no-till and cover crops can also help mitigate erosion at the source while improving water infiltration,” he notes. Jim was lead author of the Midwest Chapter, 4th National Climate Assessment.

“While farmers are acutely aware of the challenges of wetter conditions that we now face, what we aren’t prepared for is the kind of warming expected by mid-century,” he says.

Ken Kunkel’s family farmed corn, soybeans and wheat near Carlyle. 

“We always struggled financially at the whims of the weather,” he recalls. “Growing up on a farm was THE reason I pursued degrees in meteorology.” 

Ken’s research focuses on the effects of climate change and global warming on extreme weather events, with an emphasis on agriculture. More recently he has developed methods to incorporate data on increasingly heavy rainfall into designing bridges and other infrastructure with long lifetimes. He is lead scientist for the National Climate Assessment Technical Support Unit and is a senior scientist and lead scientist for assessments at North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies.

Don Wuebbles grew up about a mile from Ken and still refers to himself as a farm boy. He served as President Obama’s climate science advisor and is Harry E. Preble professor of atmospheric science at the University of Illinois. He did early research on stratospheric ozone and developed one of the first air-quality models. A leader in many major national and international assessments of climate change science, he cautions:

“Climate change is one of the most important issues that humanity faces. We have to consciously move forward with everything we do, beginning at the neighborhood level, if we’re going to protect the planet for our children and grandchildren.”