Badger Talk: Are We Doomed? An Optimist’s Guide to Climate, Conservation, & Wisconsin’s Economy

This is a free, in-person talk hosted on October 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM by Village of Cottage Grove Library Board in Cottage Grove, WI. No registration is necessary for this event. This talk will not be held virtually. There is no doubt that human-caused climate change is occurring. But, some of the worst case scenarios are overblown, over-hyped, or bad science. Ankur Desai will review what we know to date about climate change impacts in Wisconsin and the work his lab and others have done to understand how we can mitigate or adapt to these effects while also preserving and improving our quality of life. Ankur Desai is a Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the UW–Madison. He studies how ecosystems respond to climate variability and how the climate responds to ecological patterns and processes.