Climate Wisconsin is an educational multimedia collection featuring stories about the impact of climate change in Wisconsin.
LEARNING GOALS:
Expand understanding of how climate change impacts life in Wisconsin.
Connect personal observations to the study of climate and environmental science.
Identify actions that may impact changes to our climate.

Wisconsin's occupied bear range is expanding, which means residents can expect to see black bears in areas outside of the bear's traditional range. An abundant population and suitable bear habitat have facilitated the southerly movement of occupied bear range in Wisconsin. Wisconsin's black bear population is considerably higher than it was 30 years ago.

Wisconsin's bear population was estimated to be about 9,000 bears in 1989. The most recent data indicates the bear population is currently estimated to be a little over 24,000 bears. DNR manages bear population size through regulated hunting. The number of hunting permits have steadily increased following studies showing higher numbers of bears. In the near future, opportunities will be provided to the public to comment on the desired numbers of bears in each of the state's bear management regions as the DNR prepares a new bear management plan.

Wisconsin is not alone in its expanding bear range. The results from a 2008 survey of eastern United States and Canadian Provinces that actively manage black bear populations indicated that 75% of these jurisdictions report an increase in bear range. Only Vermont reported a contracting bear range.

Once widespread here and across North America, elk were eliminated from Wisconsin in the 1880s due to unregulated hunting and habitat loss. Over 130 years later, they once again live in our state's central and northern forest regions. From a population of 25 elk reintroduced in 1995, and with the help of the second reintroduction effort that started in 2015, the state's total elk population has now surpassed 400 animals.

Thanks to the support of multiple partners and the backing of Wisconsin citizens, the bugle of rutting September bulls is back and here to stay!

Elk (Cervus canadensis) is one of North America's most significant deer family members (Cervidae), second only to moose. Wisconsin's native elk (before European settlement) belonged to the Eastern elk subspecies (C. c. canadensis), believed to have gone extinct during the late 1800s. The Rocky Mountain sub-species (C. c. nelsoni) was later used in reintroduction efforts in Wisconsin and other eastern U.S. states.

Elk is one of three members of the deer family that lives in Wisconsin regularly, with the other two being white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and moose (Alces alces). Elk are approximately three times larger than deer and about two-thirds the size of moose. Adult elk are light tan-colored with a darker mane on their neck with a distinct buff-colored rump patch and stub tail.

Elk vary in size by sex. A mature cow stands approximately four and a half feet tall at the shoulder, six and a half feet in length from nose to tail and weighs 500-650 pounds. In contrast, a mature bull may stand five feet or more at the shoulder, stretch over eight feet long and weigh 600-900 pounds. Wisconsin elk calves typically weigh between 35-40 pounds at birth. Calves are born with white spots to help them blend into their surroundings during their first few months. Elk are also a herd-associated species that have many vocalizations and unique characteristics.

Fish Species Commercially Harvested or Raised in Wisconsin for Food
Common names for fish can be different by region.

Series of 43 page-size maps showing the chronology of the last glaciation's advances and retreats across Wisconsin. Includes a brief discussion about how the maps were made, how lake positions were determined, as well as a list of selected references.

Wisconsin's Meteorites dataset collection of all of the known locations of meteorites, plus known craters formed from larger meteorites, including the Rock Elm Disturbance found in West Central Wisconsin.

This lesson module demonstrate techniques for monitoring projects and taking corrective actions. This lesson module contains a student narrative, discussion guide, individual and group activities, and a posttest with descriptive key.

This lesson module guides students through the nature of monitoring projects and taking corrective actions. This lesson module contains a student narrative, discussion guide, individual and group activities, and a posttest with descriptive key. 

The PFAS Interactive Data Viewer is a mapping tool that incorporates datasets from several DNR programs to show locations throughout Wisconsin that have been impacted by PFAS.

Information included in the PFAS Interactive Data Viewer include locations with known PFAS contamination and whether clean up has been completed; results from testing municipal drinking water for PFAS; locations with PFAS-related fish and game consumption advisories; and waterbodies throughout Wisconsin sampled for PFAS during targeted or routine monitoring.

These data may not reflect current PFAS levels at specific locations.

This course introduces theoretical and practical principles of design of oceanographic sensor systems. Topics include: transducer characteristics for acoustic, current, temperature, pressure, electric, magnetic, gravity, salinity, velocity, heat flow, and optical devices; limitations on these devices imposed by ocean environments; signal conditioning and recording; noise, sensitivity, and sampling limitations; and standards. Lectures by experts cover the principles of state-of-the-art systems being used in physical oceanography, geophysics, submersibles, acoustics. For lab work, day cruises in local waters allow students to prepare, deploy and analyze observations from standard oceanographic instruments.

Biodiversity is a shortened form of the term "biological diversity." The entire spectrum of life forms and the many ecological processes support them. Wisconsin is blessed with abundant biodiversity. Located at the junction of the eastern deciduous forest, northern boreal forest and temperate grasslands, we have a wealth of species and natural communities.

Approximately 1,800 species of native plants and close to 700 species of native vertebrates have been identified in Wisconsin. In addition, there are thousands of species of non-vascular plants and invertebrates. These pages highlight the uncommon and rare species, natural communities, geological features and essential habitat areas throughout Wisconsin.

Snapshot Wisconsin is a partnership to monitor wildlife year-round, using a statewide network of trail cameras. Snapshot Wisconsin provides data needed for decision making at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It is also a unique opportunity for individuals, families, and students to get involved in monitoring the state’s valuable natural resources. This tool is designed to help visualize many aspects of Snapshot Wisconsin data.

Water clarity monitoring is a process in which the volunteer lowers an 8” diameter, black & white disc (“Secchi disc”) into the deepest part of the lake to determine how far down they can see the disc as it is lowered. Water clarity monitoring is done every 10-14 days throughout the open-water season. Water clarity is a quick way to estimate lake health, and it plays an important role in determining the types of plants and animals that a water body can support.

Can also add in collected data for Water Chemistry analysis along with Secchi disc collected data.

This site includes data collection forms for individuals or groups to add their data from their own lake to this dataset.

The National Water Information System (NWIS) Mapper provides access to over 1.5 million sites contained in the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), including sites where current and historical surface-water, groundwater, springs, and atmospheric data has been collected. Users can search by site type, data type, site number, or place.

Students apply their knowledge of scale and geometry to design wearables that would help people in their daily lives, perhaps for medical reasons or convenience. Like engineers, student teams follow the steps of the design process, to research the wearable technology field (watching online videos and conducting online research), brainstorm a need that supports some aspect of human life, imagine their own unique designs, and then sketch prototypes (using Paint®). They compare the drawn prototype size to its intended real-life, manufactured size, determining estimated length and width dimensions, determining the scale factor, and the resulting difference in areas. After considering real-world safety concerns relevant to wearables (news article) and getting preliminary user feedback (peer critique), they adjust their drawn designs for improvement. To conclude, they recap their work in short class presentations.

Wisconsin’s climate is typically continental with some modification by Lakes Michigan and Superior. The cold, snowy winters favor a variety of winter sports, and the warm summers appeal to thousands of vacationers each year. About two-thirds of the annual precipitation falls during the growing season (freeze-free period). It is normally adequate for vegetation, although drought is occasionally reported. This climate is most favorable for dairy farming; the primary crops are corn, small grains, hay, and vegetables. The rapid succession of storms moving from west to east or southwest to northeast account for the stimulating climate.

Select from Climate by Location, Division, Normals, Statewide Extremes, Longterm Annual Variability, and Daily Climate data.

Wisconsin's 15,000 lakes. The DNR partners with the University of Wisconsin - Extension and citizens around the state to help protect and maintain these amazing natural resources while providing some of the best recreational opportunities in the nation. More than 600 lake organizations and thousands of volunteers play a leadership role in the stewardship of Wisconsin's lakes.

Find a Lake, Lake Water Quality Data, Lake Maps, Plants and Aquatic invasive Insects - are all linked to this site.

Volunteers, DNR staff, county staff and others collect water clarity, temperature and dissolved oxygen, as well as other water quality data, on lakes across Wisconsin. Around 1,000 volunteers are currently active, and the network has been going strong since 1986. Water clarity is measured with a black and white disk called a "Secchi Disk".

Satellite images are used to retrieve water clarity data for lakes across the state. This effort began in 1999 when the University of Wisconsin-Madison Environmental Remote Sensing Center (ERSC) developed a model for the retrieval of water clarity data from satellite images and Citizen Lake Monitoring Network volunteers provided on-the-ground Secchi data to calibrate this model for each satellite image. Water clarity data was retrieved for over 8,000 lakes statewide between 1999 and 2001. The DNR continues to analyze data in this way today in its remote sensing program.

The Surface Water Data Viewer is a mapping tool for the State of Wisconsin. It provides interactive web mapping tools for a variety of datasets, including chemistry, physical, and biological data. The data managed in layers that can be turned on and off as needed. The Homepage of the Surface Water Data Viewer (SWDV) has many commonly used features labeled. Descriptions of the features are as follows:

Toolbars: There are a variety of toolbars with different themes to help complete tasks using the SWDV. The toolbars can be used to display the layers available to the map, add or remove shapes, text, or measurement features, identify points, print maps, and more!

Search Bar: Using the search bar, you can search monitoring stations by number, locations by keyword, and waterbodies by WBIC. Be careful when using the search bar, partial matches do not always appear in the results.

Navigation Pane: The navigation pane is where results will appear from searches, where you are able to select layers for the map, and features for printing. You will be able to refine the data that is shown here, if desired. You can hide the navigation pane by clicking the left-facing arrow at the top.

Coordinates and Coordinate System: The coordinates will display for any point moused-over on the map. Click the black triangle to select your preferred method for displaying lat/long (DD, DMS, DDM, Mercator). The right-most option in this pane allows you to manually manage thescale of the map. Click on the scale tool, and selected the desired scale at which you wish to view the map. Select Go to implement changes.

Scale Bar: The scale bar shows the current extent of the map.

Whole State View: This view describes what is being shown on the main map relative to the entire state. A blue rectangle will cover the region of the state being shown on the map. You can also navigate the map by moving the blue square around the state-view map. If you print a map, this whole state view will print in the corner as a reference. You can minimize this view by clicking the corner-facing arrow in the top left edge of the box.

Show/Hide Toolbar: Use this button to hide the toolbar for a larger view of the map. If you have hidden the toolbar, you can also use this button to show it again.

The Water Condition Viewer (WCV) is an interactive mapping tool that focuses on water condition, monitoring, assessment and management data. Data includes Clean Water Act, Monitoring Projects, Healthy Watersheds Assessments, Targeted Watershed Assessments, Wastewater Evaluation, Watershed Planning, County Land and Water Plans, Nine Key Element Plans and more. All datasets from specialized themes are available from this main, general set of layers.