Michigan climate change

State officials will consider raising minimum energy standards for newly constructed homes. Environmental groups back the tougher standards, noting a federal study showing savings in utility costs. Home builders object that it will raise the cost of new construction.

Hamtramck and Detroit are surrounded by corporate polluters that emit pollutants in our neighborhoods and have suffered from harsh rains last summer. Our climate resilience plans must prioritize those residents most at risk.

As we glide toward the end of 2021, Bridge Michigan reporters look back on the stories that best encapsulated a frenetic news year.

A nonprofit is raising foundations of shanties along the Leelanau Peninsula because of increased flooding and water levels from climate change.

Across the country, anglers have watched as droughts, floods and high temperatures batter the rivers they depend on, including Michigan’s Au Sable. Now, they’re calling for swift action.

Above-average temps are becoming the norm in October. Climate change means warmer waters that threaten salmon and trout, a possible rise in tick-borne illnesses and delays in bird migration.

If we want to slow climate change and reduce our reliance on gas, it’s a mistake to shut down Michigan’s carbon-free nuclear power plant.

Michigan farmers irrigate with 187 billion gallons of groundwater a year, double what was used a decade earlier. Is the state prepared for more?

Like the rest of the world, Michigan must work toward mitigating the projected trajectory of climate change by significantly reducing our greenhouse gas generation.

The massive storms that ripped through southeast Michigan this summer are likely the state’s new normal, but our aging infrastructure was designed for the climate of the past.

Wildfires consuming the west coast and Canada are troublesome and destructive, but they are also producing stunning panoramas through the hazy skies.

Bridge Michigan environmental reporter Kelly House moderated a Zoom discussion with two experts about our changing state and environmental justice.

More than three-quarters of health department officials in Michigan agree that climate change will impact their jurisdiction in the next 20 years. But only a third identified climate change as a priority for their department.

Yes, planting milkweed helps. But a new study by Michigan State University researchers links hotter, drier weather to monarch declines and raises questions about the iconic butterflies’ future as the climate changes.

One of the state’s signature crops is facing its second year of decline. Growers weighed whether the work of the small harvest would be worth it and experts are wondering what it means for the industry.

Health officials note an uptick in cases over two weeks, and are searching for a common source.

On July 29, Bridge Michigan environmental reporter Kelly House will moderate a Zoom discussion with environmental experts on the impacts of climate change in our state and the role of environmental justice in combating its effects

The flying blood-suckers are bad this year. And while serious illness from mosquito bites is rare, the bugs are still a major annoyance.

A bipartisan federal deal on infrastructure is welcome, but experts say it won’t meet Michigan’s long-term needs for modernized, updated stormwater systems in an era of climate change.

The Minnesota city on Lake Superior is earning a reputation as a future destination for climate migrants. Experts say the entire Great Lakes region is primed for an influx, prompting questions on how to prepare for coming change.