WEBVTT 00:00:02.208 --> 00:00:03.875 - Ami Eckard-Lee: You've probably heard someone say, 00:00:03.875 --> 00:00:07.999 "If climate change is real, why do we still have blizzards?" 00:00:07.999 --> 00:00:10.709 This is likely because people still confuse 00:00:10.709 --> 00:00:11.834 weather and climate. 00:00:11.834 --> 00:00:13.959 They're related, but they are different. 00:00:13.959 --> 00:00:16.166 Weather refers to the short-term conditions, 00:00:16.166 --> 00:00:18.125 like our day-to-day forecast. 00:00:18.125 --> 00:00:20.375 Climate refers to long-term trends 00:00:20.375 --> 00:00:23.000 and how conditions are changing year to year. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:24.999 Overall, the Earth is getting warmer, 00:00:24.999 --> 00:00:27.750 and this does some crazy stuff to our daily weather 00:00:27.750 --> 00:00:31.542 that might not always reflect this change how we'd expect. 00:00:31.542 --> 00:00:35.999 Extreme droughts, flash floods, whiteout blizzards, and more 00:00:35.999 --> 00:00:38.709 are all examples of severe weather events. 00:00:38.709 --> 00:00:40.750 These aren't new, but a warmer climate 00:00:40.750 --> 00:00:43.208 means less stability in our weather patterns, 00:00:43.208 --> 00:00:46.667 leading to a higher frequency of these events. 00:00:46.667 --> 00:00:50.125 And these severe weather events are dangerous for people, 00:00:50.125 --> 00:00:52.834 the environment, and our food resources. 00:00:52.834 --> 00:00:55.166 So, what happens when weather patterns 00:00:55.166 --> 00:00:57.667 start to become more severe? 00:00:58.500 --> 00:01:01.542 [bright music] 00:01:01.999 --> 00:01:04.000 Severe weather has a major impact 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:05.750 on the agricultural industry. 00:01:05.750 --> 00:01:06.999 Our crops aren't resilient enough 00:01:06.999 --> 00:01:10.291 to withstand flash droughts or sustained rain events, 00:01:10.291 --> 00:01:12.999 but that's exactly what they're being subjected to. 00:01:12.999 --> 00:01:16.208 Climate change is forcing farmers to think proactively 00:01:16.208 --> 00:01:19.999 about what changes are coming so that when things do happen, 00:01:19.999 --> 00:01:22.291 their farms are already prepared. 00:01:22.291 --> 00:01:23.583 What kind of impact are you noticing 00:01:23.583 --> 00:01:26.083 climate change is having on the farming industry? 00:01:26.083 --> 00:01:27.999 - Chris Wilson: We, as an industry, 00:01:27.999 --> 00:01:31.125 have really narrowed in the things 00:01:31.125 --> 00:01:32.041 that we're growing and raising. 00:01:32.041 --> 00:01:35.166 We're only growing a single crop or a couple of crops, 00:01:35.166 --> 00:01:36.999 and if we do get extreme weather, 00:01:36.999 --> 00:01:38.458 they get wiped out together. 00:01:38.458 --> 00:01:39.208 And I can tell you, 00:01:39.208 --> 00:01:40.625 not every year, every crop's successful. 00:01:40.625 --> 00:01:43.500 - What kinds of changes are you making now 00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:45.083 to plan for that? 00:01:45.083 --> 00:01:47.667 - Thirty years ago, we were growing two crops. 00:01:47.667 --> 00:01:50.417 We're growing ten crops now today. 00:01:50.417 --> 00:01:52.999 And that has been part of the strategy. 00:01:52.999 --> 00:01:54.999 That is the long-term planning of, like, 00:01:54.999 --> 00:01:56.166 how do we just grow more things, 00:01:56.166 --> 00:01:57.750 more diversified things that basically 00:01:57.750 --> 00:02:01.250 make a more resilient process and a more resilient outcome? 00:02:01.250 --> 00:02:06.041 - Why are diverse systems more resilient than a monocrop? 00:02:06.041 --> 00:02:08.875 - Some years, this will do well and this won't. 00:02:08.875 --> 00:02:12.125 If we're growing one crop, it's like flipping a coin. 00:02:12.125 --> 00:02:13.250 If we're growing ten crops, 00:02:13.250 --> 00:02:15.250 we know we're gonna have six or seven good ones. 00:02:15.250 --> 00:02:17.417 Six or seven good ones, for us, is a good year. 00:02:17.417 --> 00:02:19.999 It's a way of ensuring kind of our production system, 00:02:19.999 --> 00:02:21.999 and cows are gonna have something to eat, 00:02:21.999 --> 00:02:22.999 and we're gonna produce milk, 00:02:22.999 --> 00:02:25.750 and it feeds people and puts food in grocery stores. 00:02:25.750 --> 00:02:27.999 - Ami: Okay, so it's kind of an experiment. 00:02:27.999 --> 00:02:28.625 - Chris: It is. 00:02:28.625 --> 00:02:30.999 We might fail, but we might be successful too. 00:02:30.999 --> 00:02:33.083 That's a lot of what we're trying to figure out 00:02:33.083 --> 00:02:34.583 is, like, how do we adapt to something 00:02:34.583 --> 00:02:36.999 that we don't even know what it looks like yet? 00:02:36.999 --> 00:02:38.041 - Ami: Yeah. - We have ideas, 00:02:38.041 --> 00:02:40.458 we have potential weather and climate impacts, 00:02:40.458 --> 00:02:41.417 but we don't know absolutely 00:02:41.417 --> 00:02:45.125 how it's gonna impact things on the ground, in the dirt. 00:02:45.125 --> 00:02:46.999 So, we're broadcasting a lot of seeds 00:02:46.999 --> 00:02:48.041 and trying a lot of different things. 00:02:48.041 --> 00:02:51.125 - As the climate changes, the frequency and intensity 00:02:51.125 --> 00:02:53.792 of extreme weather events are increasing, 00:02:53.792 --> 00:02:56.750 and farmers have to adapt their farming practices 00:02:56.750 --> 00:02:58.999 to better withstand these changes. 00:02:58.999 --> 00:03:01.166 But how can we accurately predict 00:03:01.166 --> 00:03:02.999 what the impacts of climate change will be 00:03:02.999 --> 00:03:05.417 on the agricultural industry in the future? 00:03:05.417 --> 00:03:09.041 Some researchers are looking to the plants themselves, 00:03:09.041 --> 00:03:10.542 specifically trees. 00:03:10.542 --> 00:03:13.709 Let's meet up with a researcher who studies tree rings 00:03:13.709 --> 00:03:17.417 to help us predict climate change trends in the future. 00:03:17.417 --> 00:03:23.917 Can you explain how trees grow and how they put on tree rings? 00:03:23.917 --> 00:03:25.000 - Evan Larson: That's a great question. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:27.083 So, trees grow by taking energy from the Sun. 00:03:27.083 --> 00:03:28.375 They take carbon out of the air 00:03:28.375 --> 00:03:30.999 and they take nutrients from the soil. 00:03:30.999 --> 00:03:32.875 And they combine it all 00:03:32.875 --> 00:03:34.999 through the process of photosynthesis. 00:03:34.999 --> 00:03:36.667 And that's the building of sugars 00:03:36.667 --> 00:03:39.208 that then they use to build wood. 00:03:39.208 --> 00:03:41.792 And every year, they're building another ring. 00:03:41.792 --> 00:03:43.667 And then in the fall, they go dormant. 00:03:43.667 --> 00:03:45.709 They go to sleep, basically, for the winter. 00:03:45.709 --> 00:03:46.375 It's too cold to grow. 00:03:46.375 --> 00:03:48.709 And then in the spring, they'll start growing again, 00:03:48.709 --> 00:03:49.875 put on the next year's ring. 00:03:49.875 --> 00:03:52.792 And so, water is really important for you and me. 00:03:52.792 --> 00:03:54.458 It's really important for trees. 00:03:54.458 --> 00:03:56.709 If a tree is really dry, 00:03:56.709 --> 00:04:00.083 that means that it cannot photosynthesize as much 00:04:00.083 --> 00:04:02.000 or even as efficiently. - Okay. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:04.875 - And so, that means that they have to work really hard 00:04:04.875 --> 00:04:06.875 to get enough energy to add a ring. 00:04:06.875 --> 00:04:09.417 And that's expressed in either a narrow ring for a drought 00:04:09.417 --> 00:04:11.375 or a wide ring on those really wet years. 00:04:11.375 --> 00:04:14.458 - How is this information used to tell us more 00:04:14.458 --> 00:04:15.250 about climate change? 00:04:15.250 --> 00:04:16.999 - It's a great question 'cause we have records 00:04:16.999 --> 00:04:20.542 from our thermometers and rain gauges in a lot of places, 00:04:20.542 --> 00:04:22.417 but they only go back about 100 years. 00:04:22.417 --> 00:04:24.999 The problem is that climate changes 00:04:24.999 --> 00:04:27.083 on these really big timescales, 00:04:27.083 --> 00:04:29.917 way longer than our instrumental records go. 00:04:29.917 --> 00:04:32.959 These trees have been living here for 500 years, 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.999 and we know that every drought and every big wet year, 00:04:36.999 --> 00:04:40.375 they are now recording that in the width of their rings. 00:04:40.375 --> 00:04:44.999 Dendrochronology is the study of time through the rings of trees. 00:04:44.999 --> 00:04:48.333 Knowing what a wide and what a narrow ring represents, 00:04:48.333 --> 00:04:50.125 we can then use the tree rings 00:04:50.125 --> 00:04:53.542 to reconstruct how much rain fell in the past. 00:04:53.542 --> 00:04:56.375 And so, what we can do with dendrochronology 00:04:56.375 --> 00:04:58.709 is actually start to predict. - Ami: Mm-hmm. 00:04:58.709 --> 00:05:02.208 - We know what it is right now, but what's it gonna be? 00:05:02.208 --> 00:05:06.166 - So, the tree rings vary in their size, 00:05:06.166 --> 00:05:07.125 and you can directly tell 00:05:07.125 --> 00:05:09.834 how that had to do with the rainfall. 00:05:09.834 --> 00:05:10.333 - Bingo. 00:05:10.333 --> 00:05:12.417 And what it does, this is really cool. 00:05:12.417 --> 00:05:15.875 It creates almost like a barcode in time. 00:05:15.875 --> 00:05:17.959 - Whoa! - Fingerprint. 00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:19.041 - Yeah, it really does. 00:05:19.041 --> 00:05:21.999 - Evan: This is a record of climate change. 00:05:21.999 --> 00:05:22.333 - Okay. 00:05:22.333 --> 00:05:25.583 - So, this is one of the samples from this site. 00:05:25.583 --> 00:05:26.250 That really wide ring? 00:05:26.250 --> 00:05:28.291 - Ami: Mm-hmm. - Evan: That was a good year. 00:05:28.291 --> 00:05:30.834 - Ami: Oh, yeah. - Followed by a narrow ring? 00:05:30.834 --> 00:05:31.417 That was a drought. 00:05:31.417 --> 00:05:33.999 And so, as we come out here, look at that here. 00:05:33.999 --> 00:05:34.917 - Ami: Those are really narrow. 00:05:34.917 --> 00:05:36.667 - That's about ten years of really suppressed growth. 00:05:36.667 --> 00:05:39.125 So, you see this kind of ebb and flow of the climate. 00:05:39.125 --> 00:05:41.041 Some years are good, some years are hard. 00:05:41.041 --> 00:05:44.500 And so, the clustering of these really narrow rings, 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:46.250 that's the kind of stuff that, 00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:49.583 that's pretty scary from a farmer's perspective. 00:05:49.583 --> 00:05:50.041 - Oh, yeah. 00:05:50.041 --> 00:05:52.417 - Evan: 'Cause you might be able to handle one drought. 00:05:52.417 --> 00:05:54.291 But what about a five-year continuous drought? 00:05:54.291 --> 00:05:56.041 - Ami: Yeah. - That's big time. 00:05:56.041 --> 00:05:57.083 But the question is... 00:05:57.083 --> 00:05:58.583 - Why? - ...why was it dry? 00:05:58.583 --> 00:05:59.417 That's what we're working out. 00:05:59.417 --> 00:06:03.750 And so, the trees that we have growing on the bluffs 00:06:03.750 --> 00:06:05.250 in the Driftless area, 00:06:05.250 --> 00:06:06.834 based off of the width of their rings, 00:06:06.834 --> 00:06:08.999 are not just telling us just how much rain fell, 00:06:08.999 --> 00:06:10.166 but it's also starting to tell us 00:06:10.166 --> 00:06:12.667 about these really big circulation patterns 00:06:12.667 --> 00:06:14.999 of how the world's climate is changing. 00:06:14.999 --> 00:06:17.709 So, even while we're talking about droughts, 00:06:17.709 --> 00:06:19.959 we're also seeing swings in the other way 00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:22.834 and these really, really wet times. 00:06:22.834 --> 00:06:24.999 So, our rains are getting more intense 00:06:24.999 --> 00:06:26.542 and our droughts are getting more intense. 00:06:26.542 --> 00:06:28.166 - Extremes. - So, what do you do? 00:06:28.166 --> 00:06:29.792 And so, that's the fun of science 00:06:29.792 --> 00:06:31.792 is that we're figuring it out. 00:06:31.792 --> 00:06:32.999 We know what we need to do. 00:06:32.999 --> 00:06:34.583 We need to learn more from the trees. 00:06:34.583 --> 00:06:36.083 We need to better understand our climate. 00:06:36.083 --> 00:06:39.000 And we need to keep pushing that understanding forward 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.333 so that we can take that information back to the farmers 00:06:42.333 --> 00:06:43.625 and the water resource managers 00:06:43.625 --> 00:06:47.709 and the communities who need to manage their water. 00:06:47.709 --> 00:06:48.500 - Mm-hmm. 00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:51.959 By studying tree growth patterns from the past, 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:52.625 scientists can predict 00:06:52.625 --> 00:06:56.291 how climate change might affect our agricultural crops 00:06:56.291 --> 00:06:56.999 in the future. 00:06:56.999 --> 00:06:58.375 This is some pretty incredible science 00:06:58.375 --> 00:07:01.417 that's still rather unknown to nonexperts, 00:07:01.417 --> 00:07:02.792 and that's part of the problem. 00:07:02.792 --> 00:07:06.542 Science is often a topic that feels inaccessible 00:07:06.542 --> 00:07:07.625 to a lot of people. 00:07:07.625 --> 00:07:09.125 And bridging the communication gap 00:07:09.125 --> 00:07:12.041 between scientists and the general public 00:07:12.041 --> 00:07:12.834 is a challenge. 00:07:12.834 --> 00:07:15.999 But that is exactly what the Flow Project does. 00:07:15.999 --> 00:07:17.375 The Flow Project is a program 00:07:17.375 --> 00:07:20.083 that connects scientists with artists 00:07:20.083 --> 00:07:22.709 so they can collaborate and create art 00:07:22.709 --> 00:07:25.375 inspired by scientific research. 00:07:25.375 --> 00:07:28.999 Why did you choose to get involved with the Flow Project? 00:07:28.999 --> 00:07:31.542 - Evelyn Zadzilka: I think the biggest difference we can make 00:07:31.542 --> 00:07:32.917 in climate change, at least as an artist, 00:07:32.917 --> 00:07:36.792 is being able to communicate the ideas behind climate change 00:07:36.792 --> 00:07:38.999 in a way that's accessible to people. 00:07:38.999 --> 00:07:41.250 It just takes a slightly different approach. 00:07:41.250 --> 00:07:43.000 - Yeah, a creative one. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.667 Can you show me your project? 00:07:45.667 --> 00:07:47.208 - For sure, yeah. 00:07:48.125 --> 00:07:50.333 - It's growing! [laughs] 00:07:50.333 --> 00:07:55.000 What are you hoping to convey through this piece of art? 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:56.917 - I was really hoping to get across the idea 00:07:56.917 --> 00:07:59.375 that different tree rings and different sections of the tree 00:07:59.375 --> 00:08:01.667 might transport different amounts of water, 00:08:01.667 --> 00:08:02.667 especially during different years, 00:08:02.667 --> 00:08:06.750 as represented by the thicker or more dense strands of blue. 00:08:06.750 --> 00:08:10.291 - What did you learn by combining 00:08:10.291 --> 00:08:11.875 this art and this science? 00:08:11.875 --> 00:08:13.125 Did anything stand out to you? 00:08:13.125 --> 00:08:17.041 - I think art is a beautiful way of interpreting science. 00:08:17.041 --> 00:08:19.875 It makes it so easy to fall into it 00:08:19.875 --> 00:08:23.041 and, like, learn without even trying to learn, 00:08:23.041 --> 00:08:24.166 whether that's water usage 00:08:24.166 --> 00:08:26.999 or climate change throughout the centuries. 00:08:26.999 --> 00:08:28.375 I really hope people take away the idea 00:08:28.375 --> 00:08:32.750 that trees have so much to show us if we know how to look. 00:08:32.999 --> 00:08:35.333 - You don't have to be a scientist 00:08:35.333 --> 00:08:37.250 to make a difference in climate change. 00:08:37.250 --> 00:08:40.417 Finding solutions is all about collaborating with people 00:08:40.417 --> 00:08:44.250 who have different perspectives, experimenting with new ideas, 00:08:44.250 --> 00:08:46.542 and using the tools we already have 00:08:46.542 --> 00:08:48.999 to look at something through a new lens. 00:08:48.999 --> 00:08:51.667 Experiment with new methods like Chris. 00:08:51.667 --> 00:08:54.500 Learn to communicate in new ways like Evelyn, 00:08:54.500 --> 00:08:58.792 or look to the past to learn about the future, like Evan. 00:08:58.792 --> 00:09:02.333 Solutions grow from looking and learning. 00:09:02.333 --> 00:09:03.166 So, be curious. 00:09:03.166 --> 00:09:05.625 Take the time to look closely at the details 00:09:05.625 --> 00:09:08.291 and learn how they fit into the big picture. 00:09:08.291 --> 00:09:10.792 You never know what solution you might find 00:09:10.792 --> 00:09:13.917 just by asking the right question. 00:09:16.999 --> 00:09:17.875 I said it wrong. 00:09:17.875 --> 00:09:20.500 How is dendrochron-- - Close. 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:22.709 - Chro-nology - Chro. 00:09:22.709 --> 00:09:27.792 - How is dendochronology-- - Nope. [laughs] 00:09:27.792 --> 00:09:29.208 - Ami: Ah!