Global Warming and The West

The American West faces acute threats from global warming. According to recent reports from the leading climate scientists:3

The West is getting hotter. The West warmed at a rate 70% faster than the rest of the planet in the last five years. Climate models project that temperatures in the West will continue to increase faster than elsewhere in the lower 48 states.
The West is getting drier. Snow provides 70% of the West’s water, yet warming in western mountains is projected to decrease snowpack. Warming will also produce more rapid snowmelt and faster runoff – making it harder for the ground to absorb moisture, and reducing streams flows during summer.
Ecosystems are being disrupted. Warming is already reducing stream flows, vital to fish; and increasing the size and number of fires that char wildlife habitats. Fires have burned millions of acres in the last five years, adding to habitat losses for sage grouse, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and many other species.		Map of fires from 2000 - 2007

We can help protect the West from global warming by increasing the resiliency of our western ecosystems. Natural systems – and wildlife – can adapt to climate change, but they need “breathing room” to do so. The critical steps needed include:

Protect all water sources – including wet meadows, seeps, and springs, as well as headwaters of streams and rivers.
Reduce or eliminate “stressors”on the landscape, such as exotic livestock and weed invasions.
Reconnect and restore rivers and lands that have suffered from past human actions, including dewatering and excessive logging.

3 Want to learn more about the science of global warming in The West? See:

U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report (November 2007), http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf;

NRDC, “Hotter & Drier: The West’s Changed Climate” (March 2008) http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/west/contents.asp

For information, email: info@savethewest.org