CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change is negatively impacting wildlife and habitat. NCWF, working with volunteer leadership and in partnership with National Wildlife Federation staff, focused efforts on Congress to pass comprehensive legislation that will reduce America’s global warming pollution by 80 percent by mid-century. Throughout the year, presentations to hunter and angler groups and NCWF chapters, along with Op-Ed pieces in North Carolina newspapers, feature articles in NCWF communications, and direct meetings with state Congressional delegates were key efforts in our comprehensive education campaign.

IMPACTS: North Carolina’s diverse coastal and inland ecosystems face a serious threat from global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates average temperatures in the state could rise about 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 if global warming continues unabated. Parts of North Carolina’s 3,375 miles of coastal shoreline have already seen a 2-inch rise in sea level over the past century. By 2100, researchers project this level could increase another 12 inches, causing beach erosion, salt-water incursion and damage to coastal development. Inland, North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park could see drastic changes to forests, as the state’s climate becomes more like that of central Florida.

North Carolina is home to an incredible diversity of native wildlife species, including 360 birds, 107 mammals, 206 fish, 68 reptiles and 84 amphibians. Rising temperatures and sea level in the state will likely change the makeup of entire ecosystems, forcing wildlife to shift their ranges or adapt.

• In the South, summertime drought and high temperatures will shrink bobwhite quail populations by disrupting the birds’ breeding cycles and reducing the availability of insects they feed on.  Hot dry conditions will also stunt the growth of vegetative cover, leaving broods vulnerable to predators.
• Across the continent, deer, elk and other big game populations will shrink as high levels of greenhouse gases make the plants they eat less nourishing and tougher to digest.
• Nationwide, up to 42 percent of current trout and salmon habitat will be lost before the end of the century and the South is one of the regions that will experience especially severe reductions.  In the lower elevations of the Appalachian Mountains, as much as 97 percent of the wild trout population will die.  Rising stream temperatures could significantly reduce viable habitat for several species of cold-water fish in North Carolina, including brook trout.
• Changes in precipitation patterns – heavy, flood producing rains interspersed with extensive droughts – will cause major fluctuations in water levels, dramatically reducing the survival rate of eggs, larva and fry of bass, bluegill and other warm-water species.
• Hunters are reporting waterfowl migrations that are occurring later in the season – and in some cases, not occurring at all. Milder winters in states north of the Carolinas could mean that many of the ducks that migrate to the area during the winter would stay farther north. On top of this, coastal erosion and a loss of marshes due to sea level rise could reduce available waterfowl habitat in North Carolina.
• Just a slight increase in temperature could cause North Carolina’s red spruce and Fraser fir populations to be replaced by more heat-tolerant southern pines and oaks, affecting the wildlife that calls those unique mountain forests home.
• The Southeast is home to 70 endangered or threatened species, 27 percent of which live within three miles of the ocean. Rising sea levels could inundate the habitats of these wildlife species, including the brown pelican, piping plover and loggerhead sea turtle.
• North Carolina is already losing coastline to rising ocean levels.  In 1999, the 132-year-old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved inland 2,900 feet so it wouldn’t collapse into the Atlantic. Beach replenishment projects over the next century could cost between $660 million-$3.6 billion.
• Research from MIT shows that hurricanes and other major storms have increased in intensity and duration by about 50 percent since the 1970s and are linked to increases in average sea surface temperatures.
• Loss of wildlife and habitat could mean a loss of tourism dollars. In 2006, nearly 4.2 million people spent more than $2.3 billion on wildlife viewing in North Carolina, which in turn supported 49,771 jobs in the state.

UPDATE: U.S. Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, on October 1st, introduced the Kerry-Boxer legislation to create clean energy jobs, reduce pollution, and protect American security by enhancing domestic energy production and combating global climate change.

Called the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733), the bill could help the U.S. cut carbon pollution and stimulate the economy by creating millions of jobs in the renewable energy sector and provide resources for natural resource protection.

“This is a security bill that puts Americans back in charge of our energy future and makes it clear that we will combat global climate change with American ingenuity. It is our country’s defense against the harms of pollution and the security risks of global climate change,” Sen. Kerry said.  “Our health, our security, our economy, our environment, all demand we reinvent the way America uses energy.  Our addiction to foreign oil hurts our economy, helps our enemies and risks our security.  By taking decisive action, we can and will stop climate change from becoming a ‘threat multiplier’ that makes an already dangerous world staggeringly more so.”

This bill reflects some of the intentions of the House of Representative’s bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which passed last June 219-212.

NCWF is working to ensure the Senate passes comprehensive climate and energy legislation that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and dedicates 5% of the total allowance value for natural resources adaptation in order to safeguard fish and wildlife, and the natural resources on which we all rely.  These funds will provide crucial support for job-creating conservation initiatives to protect natural resources which are the backbone of public health and the American economy.

Across the country construction crews, engineers, scientists and others will be employed to restore America’s landscapes, strengthen ecosystems so they can withstand disruptive changes, remove invasive species from natural areas, repair damaged watersheds and help revive rural economies.  Healthy natural systems provide clean water, clean air and protect communities from catastrophic weather-related disasters, ranging from hurricanes to floods to forest fires.

Outdoor recreation, including hunting, fishing, camping, climbing, hiking, paddling, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, and other activities accounts for 8% of all consumer spending, which drives an overall annual contribution of $730 billion to the economy, supporting 6.5 million jobs (1 of every 20 jobs in the U.S.), according to The Outdoor Industry Foundation. The economic value of the natural environment is far higher when the vast range of ecosystem services is also included; conservative estimates tally these benefits at trillions of dollars annually.

NEW REPORT: “STANDING TALL: How Restoring Longleaf Pine Can Help Prepare the Southeast for Global Warming” (PDF)

Sportsman's Pocket Guide to Climate Change in NC (PDF)

Download "Global Warming and North Carolina" (PDF)

Download North Carolina: Safeguarding Wildlife from Global Warming (PDF)

Sportsman Tele Conference on the Impact of Climate Change (MP3)

Target Global Warming website

Climate Fast Facts: North Carolina

REPORT: More Extreme Heat Waves: Global Warming's Wake-Up Call

Spanish Fact Sheet: TOME MEDIDAS CONTRA EL CALENTAMIENTO GLOBAL (PDF)

NEW REPORT: More Extreme Heat Waves: Global Warming’s Wake-Up Call details how:

• Global warming will bring more extreme heat waves
• Urban air pollution could be exacerbated by more extreme heat
• Heat waves disproportionately impact people who are poor, elderly, children, or have asthma or heart disease, or live in big cities
• Natural habitats and agriculture are also vulnerable to heat waves
• We can reduce the severity of heat waves and their impacts on vulnerable people
  

Senator Kay Hagan meets with NCWF staff and board

From left to right: Richard B. Hamilton, NCWF, NC Camouflage Coalition Coordinator, G. Richard Mode, NCWF Affiliate Representative to NWF and NWF Outreach Coordinator, NC Senator Kay Hagan, Tim Gestwicki, NCWF, Executive Director.

Senator Kay Hagan engaged in a discussion concerning pending federal climate and energy legislation with NCWF/NWF.  Comprehensive climate and energy legislation will protect wildlife resources from the worst impacts of climate change.  The legislation will help sustain NC forests, agriculture lands, and should include dedicated wildlife adaptation funding.  Senator Hagan is from a hunting and fishing family that has been fully involved with wildlife conservation.  She is an angler, paddler, hiker and outdoors enthusiast.