Record flooding, droughts and a sweeping inland hurricane have decimated farm fields, small businesses and the livelihoods of countless Iowans over the last decade plus. And if we do not act to curb greenhouse gas emissions, it could cost the Quad-Cities millions more annually in economic damages by 2100. Thatâs according to estimates and predictions compiled by state and regional climate science experts based on national and local climate data. Climate change is already here, and itâs affecting people, plants, animals and large sectors of our economy, Jerry Schnoor, co-director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research at the University of Iowa said in a 2018 climate statement signed by 201 science faculty and researches from 37 Iowa colleges and universities. It described the need to fortify buildings and public infrastructure from a hotter and wetter future.