From the Editor’s Desk: Current Climate Resilience Should Motivate Conservation 

This week in The Phoenix, News Writer Grace Hatton reported on Chicago’s newly awarded status as the most climate-resilient municipality in the world. The designation came from the city’s low risk for extreme weather events and robust adaptive infrastructure, according to AlphaGeo, the company that authored the climate resilience findings. 

However, a significant reason for Chicago’s ability to defend itself against climate change is Lake Michigan. 

The Great Lakes are the largest source of freshwater in the world, supplying 84% of North America’s freshwater and 21% of the total amount of freshwater on the planet, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Having called the region home for 20 years — living in Northeast Ohio before moving to Chicago — I too often take the novelty of the Great Lakes for granted. Their grandeur and life-giving capacity are unmatched globally. 

Chicago in particular benefits from its proximity to Lake Michigan, especially as approximately four billion people in the world experience water scarcity for at least one month of the year, according to UNICEF.

The city’s supposed resilience shouldn’t be the finish line for climate action. Instead, it should be the launch pad for continued resistance against global warming. 

The Great Lakes region isn’t immune to climate change without continued resistance and conservation. The Alliance for the Great Lakes reported the warmest water temperatures the lakes have seen, rapidly fluctuating water level extremes, increased runoff pollution and flooding. 

Global warming compounds each of the Great Lakes’ climate-related challenges, meaning delayed action could lead to drastic effects for Chicagoans, wildlife and Midwestern communities as a whole.

Climate resilience equals risk minus adaptation, AlphaGeo founder Parag Khanna told The New York Times.  

While Lake Michigan wards off risk for the city of Chicago, it’s our responsibility to develop and hone adaptation efforts to, in turn, protect our lake. 

Despite Chicago’s general climate resilience score, AlphaGeo noted that resilience isn’t homogeneous across cities. Low-income and minority neighborhoods suffer disproportionately from environmental degradation, meaning a pledge to protect our lakes is one to ensure the safety and wellness of everyone in our city. 

In Chicago, Lake Michigan is our life source and defender against climate change and environmental injustice. Our city’s resilience to global warming shouldn’t ease our anxieties; it should mobilize us to continuously conserve and protect Chicago for current and future generations.