Two years ago, the small village of Mazomanie, in Dane County's northwestern corner, saw the small creek that runs through the center of their town grow into a raging river as record rains fell in an unprecedented storm.

After it was all over, the region saw more rain in a 24 hour period than has ever fallen in Wisconsin before, costing small communities like Mazomanie homes, businesses, and millions of dollars in damage.

The science community has long pointed to climate change as a major reason for an increased heavy rain events leading to more flooding. But local communities like Dane County--and now state officials--are taking action to limit the impacts of climate change, as well as tackle the root cause: carbon emissions.

In this episode of State of Change, we talk with the Mazomanie Village Administrator about his experience with the 2018 flooding that rocked his community. We also talk with Dane County Executive Joe Parisi about Dane County's leadership in local action on climate change, and we chat with Chelsea Chandler, our new Climate Solutions Director, about efforts at the state level through the Governor's Task Force on Climate Change.

Background reading:

--A post on our blog on Dane County's Climate Action Plan that was released earlier this year. --Our science team created this local climate action map. --They also looked at whether we're seeing more heavy rain events in Wisconsin. --A post on our blog in the aftermath of Dane County's record rainfall and devastating flooding --Great collection of photos from the Wisconsin State Journal documenting the aftermath of flooding in Dane County

A special thanks to Peter Huebner of Mazomanie, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, and Chelsea Chandler of Clean Wisconsin.