DNR Director to Speak at Climate Change Briefing

Richard Leopold, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), will speak at the climate change briefing and discussion sponsored by the University of Iowa Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research on Monday evening, February 16. The focus of the evening will be the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council’s report to the legislature. The event will take place from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. at the Iowa State Historical Building Auditorium, 600 East Locust, Des Moines.

Director Leopold will focus his remarks on the challenges that face the DNR in relation to preparing for the effects of climate change. It’s very possible Iowa will experience more freeze-thaw cycles, a longer frost-free period, wetter springs and drier summers, and more intense rain events affecting land, water, and air management, emigration patterns, and Iowa’s ecological web.

The public is invited to learn more about climate change science, its potential impacts on Iowa, recent options detailed in the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council report, and next steps.

Additional speakers will be Dr. Eugene S. Takle, director, Climate Change Initiative, Professor of Atmospheric Science, Professor of Agricultural Meteorology, Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University; and Jerry Schnoor – co-director, University of Iowa Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research and chairman, Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council.

For more information contact Joe Bolkcom, Outreach and Community Education Director, UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research at joe-bolkcom@uiowa.edu or 319-353-2681.