Climate Adaptation Planning in Great Lakes Cities – Regional Overview and Case Studies
Climate change will be one of the most challenging problems of this century. Clouded by political controversy over its cause and by scientific variation in future climate prediction, many people opt for inaction. However, within the last thirty years, our communities have experienced more frequent extreme weather events and gradually rising temperatures. While coastal and arid cities have received more attention from the research and planning communities, the Great Lakes Region is significant. This region contains 84% of North America’s surface freshwater and supplies 40 million people with drinking water. The Great Lakes’ biophysical characteristics create diverse microclimates for cities around its shoreline and these microclimates make climate prediction challenging. The Great Lakes states account for approximately one-third of the U.S. economy, and it is estimated that more than 1.5 million jobs are directly connected to the Great Lakes, generating $62 billion in wages. The region as a whole provides highly diversified industrial offerings and millions of people’s livelihoods are directly and indirectly connected to this vast water system. The focus of this study is to identify the anticipated climate impacts for cities within the Great Lakes Region and recommend appropriate adaptation strategies for two case study cities, Marquette, Michigan and Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Kenneth R. C. Dunn 