Is Butler County ready to tackle climate change?

State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has been conducting public hearings this month while working on a special report about Pennsylvania's preparedness for climate change.

“The climate crisis will impact public health and safety, disrupt our economy and create new burdens on taxpayers,” DePasquale said. “In light of how little serious work is being done about the crisis at the national level, it's up to states to make certain they're prepared for these potentially devastating impacts.”

Shawn Davis, a Slippery Rock University assistant professor of parks and conservation, said Butler County residents can see the effects of climate change in the weather. He said there has been an increase in the number of high-impact events.

“We're seeing increased heavy downpours. I think everyone has seen an uptick of that,” Davis said.

Davis said flooding, droughts and tornados could become more common.

“The fact of the matter is, we're seeing these effects already and they're projected to increase over time,” Davis said.

Butler County Emergency Services Director Steve Bicehouse said the county is familiar with and prepared for severe weather conditions.

He said harsh storms this year proved the county has good systems in place already.

“Severe weather is the No. 1 threat in Western Pennsylvania,” Bicehouse said. “We have plans in place. We have exercised those plans not only at the county level, but at the local level.”

If the number of incidents continues to increase, the county could see issues with resources and manpower, but that has not been an issue yet, Bicehouse said.

“We feel pretty confident in what we have here in the county,” Bicehouse said. “You can't prepare for everything, but our known hazards we're ready for.”

Davis said the worsening weather conditions could cause problems for farmers. He said heavy rains during droughts do more damage than good.

“They erode the soil instead of alleviating the (drought) problem,” Davis said. “Agriculturally speaking, it's a really big problem in Pennsylvania.”

Davis said sweltering heat combined with increasing insect populations growing out of milder winters combine to eliminate some crops once grown in the state.

“Crops are sensitive to heat,” Davis said. “We're going to see a decline in sweet corn production just because of the heat by itself.”

Will Taylor, manager of Jennings Environmental Education Center, said the center has seen a shift in some flowers that bloom at specific times of the year. Animals have also exhibited changes.

Taylor said the center's unique example of this is the Massasauga rattlesnake.

“We're seeing that emergence happen much earlier than in the past,” he said. “We're seeing snakes up now (in March.)”

Taylor said in the past the snakes generally entered hibernation in early November and emerge between late April and early May. He said the snakes appear to be entering hibernation later as well — with some going into hibernation as late as November last year.

“That would mean their hibernation would be shortened,” Taylor said.

Taylor said invasive species of plants and animals have also been an issue. He said the park does the best it can to manage these populations, but some invaders, such as the emerald ash borer, are difficult to defeat.

“We have one mature ash (tree) left in our parking lot that we treat, and I don't know how long we'll treat it, but other than that, they're all gone,” he said.

Taylor said witnessing the effects of climate change is difficult, but so is fighting the phenomenon.

He said the park has followed a state Department of Conservation of Natural Resources initiative to convert all its lighting to LED to reduce the park's carbon footprint. He said another initiative would accommodate electric cars and begin swapping out its own fleet with electronically-fueled vehicles.

DePasquale said he will continue to prepare the state for the future.

“I want our state to be ready for what the federal government's own experts say is already happening and what is yet to come,” DePasquale added.