Program Sponsor
Backlund Charitable Trust
This program was made possible in part by the Backlund Charitable Trust, established to educate and create awareness of environmental issues.
There is evidence of climate change, from shrinking polar ice and California wildfires to more frequent flooding along the Illinois River. While the climate is changing there are questions behind the causes of these changes.
This WTVP documentary explores the impact of climatic changes on life here in Central Illinois. The program is made possible by the Backlund Charitable Trust.
Written and produced by At Issue host H Wayne Wilson, Coping with Climate Change: An Illinois Perspective examines evidence changing climate patterns are disrupting life in our region. One area of concern is farming, where producers face everything from decreasing yields, drought and periods of intense rain, to frequent flooding and new varieties of weeds.
The 30-minute documentary also addresses the strain on urban infrastructure caused by heavy rain, drought and erosion. As area coal power plants close, wind, solar power and new farming technology are among the solutions being put forth to address concerns.
“The climate is changing…I think the key is are we causing that change as a human race? I have never seen any real good evidence that that is the case, that we’re causing this change.” — Mike McClellan, Mobile Weather Team, Inc.
Coping with Climate Change: An Illinois Perspective is the latest documentary about Illinois environmental issues produced by WTVP in recent years. Others include The Illinois River, a two-part series on fish, waterfowl and sedimentation in the Illinois River valley, Nature Returns to Emiquon, about the successful reclamation of natural wetlands, and Preserving Illinois Prairies, which looks at efforts to preserve remnants of the state’s prairies for future generations.
