Northwest numbers in the climate assessment
2: Degrees the temperature has warmed in the Northwest since 1900.
5: Projected percentage increase of irrigation needed in the Columbia River Basin by the 2030s as a result of climate change.
22: Potential percentage loss in salmon habitat in Washington by the end of this century under a high-emissions scenario.
70: Potential percentage of lost revenue to snow-related businesses under high emissions scenario.
Shawn Vestal: On climate, we ignore Chapter 24 at our peril
Hotter, drier, smokier summers. More rain and less snow in the winters. Erratic weather patterns – from droughts to overflowing rivers and coastal surges.
Sunburned apples and softer berries. More heat stroke and Lyme disease. Less skiing and boating, more respiratory problems, suffering fisheries.
Chapter 24 of the Fourth National Climate Assessment is a real bummer. Those of us living in the Pacific Northwest – along with everyone on the planet – ignore it at our peril.
The Fourth National Climate Assessment is an exhaustive, detailed, deeply documented alarm bell – much like the First National Climate Assessment, the Second National Climate Assessment and the Third National Climate Assessment. A product of U.S. Global Change Research Program and relying on work from 13 federal agencies, the assessment lays out a case for action that should be utterly impervious to the increasingly desperate counterarguments of the rejectionists.
It also includes a thorough, detailed, exhaustively cited examination of the effects of a changing climate here in the Northwest. Chapter 24 – it’s not short, but it’s worth your time if you’re sincerely interested in the current state of knowledge about the warming planet and the way it might affect you here at home: (nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/24/).
Here are a few of the lowlights from Chapter 24, summarized.
The region has already warmed substantially
The region has warmed nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900, a change that is at least Continue reading “Climate Change in the Northwest”
steve austin 