By ANTONIO

ANDERSON

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — The Marquette Climate Adaptation Task Force recently held its first meeting of the year at Northern Michigan University’s Northern Center in Marquette.

“Today, the goal is to brainstorm and prioritize the list of climate-related issues we are going to face in the next 25 years,” event coordinator Jes Thompson said. “(Roughly) 75 people came, elected officials, nonprofits, local, regional and state authorities. It is very great to have diverse and broad representation.”

A handful of these representatives gave speeches at the event, including NMU President Brock Tessman and Superior Watershed Partnership Executive Director Carl Lindquist.

The main agenda for this meeting was to set a precedent for later meetings in terms of processes and the implementation of new discussion techniques.

“It will eventually be a series of learning circles,” Thompson said.

In these learning circles, event-goers will discuss key environmental threats that they foresee plaguing the world leading into 2049, as well as having an open discussion regarding the health of the enviornment.

“I think if we can come together as a community before a threat, we are building our muscle for adapting to climate change,” Thompson said.

The event was sponsored by the NMU Climate Network, Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservency, League of Woman Voters, and others.

For more information on CATF, visit the website at marquettecountycatf.org.

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550.