shannonheffernan-blog

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Roxane Gay lives and writes in the Midwest. She is the author of “Ayiti,” “An Untamed State,” and “Bad Feminist,” a New York Times bestseller. “The Way of the River” is Gay’s contribution to After Water, a WBEZ Chicago flash fiction project that invites writers to examine the impact of climate change on future generations around the Great Lakes. In this story, a wife and mother pushes against despair and thirst to keep her humanity, and her family together.

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WBEZ reporter Shannon Heffernan joined creative nonfiction writer Michele Morano on her quest to answer one question: how do climate scientists sleep at night? 

The answers they find are kicking off our After Water series. Listen in all week to hear fiction writers’ take on the future of the Great Lakes. 

And hear scientists and policy experts talk about how those stories relate to the challenges the lakes face right now. 

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Scientists and other people are trying to get their message across about various aspects of the climate change issue, and it seems like fiction is an untapped way of doing this — a way of smuggling some serious topics into [readers'] consciousness.

- Judith Curry, professor and chair, Georgia Institute of Technology School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

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The extremely wet rainy weather we’re experiencing this spring may have once been exceptional, but not anymore. The Upper Midwest has experienced a 37% increase in the amount of precipitation falling in very heavy events from 1958 to 2012. The MPCA and Minnesota’s meteorological communities see this as our new reality — climate data as well as future projections indicate increases in very heavy precipitation in Minnesota will continue. Heavy precipitation events, storms and flooding have significant impacts on Minnesota’s communities and ecosystems. This includes effects on water and soil resources, agriculture, drainage infrastructure, human health, stormwater management, solid waste management and wastewater. Some of the impacts we are seeing right now or can expect to see: (via Minnesota’s new normal – heavy rains – poses new challenges - Minnesota Pollution Control Agency)

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Tensions have sprung up in Wisconsin over how to allocate finite water resources to many legitimate uses: municipal water supplies, industries, irrigation, private wells, lakes and streams. To s…

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The Canadian government has approved the Northern Gateway oil pipeline from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia, despite protests from environmental groups. The Northern Gateway pipeline would carry 500,000 barrels of bitumen a day, compared to the Keystone XL pipeline at 700,000. Keystone XL’s approval is still under dispute in Washington. 

To learn more about Keystone XL and large-scale oil pipelines check out our interview with journalist Ryan Lizza. He explains the environmental consequences, the Canadian energy industry, and what Obama can do about this issue. 

Photo of cranes in a port in British Columbia by Julie Gordon/ Reuters via NYT

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This is what your grocery store will look like with out bees. on

The dairy section is even more bleak, see the GIF here. 

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Watch this full screen, the images are amazing.

How water shapes us. How we shape water.

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