NWF’s recent report Wildlife in a Warming World: Confronting the Climate Crisis details how wildlife and wild places across the nation are already dealing with climate change. As we celebrate the many wonderful ways trees touch our lives and benefit wildlife during this year’s National Wildlife Week, we also take a moment to step back and consider what climate change means for trees today and into the future.

Forests Facing New Climate Challenges

The trees that define the landscape in many parts of the United States are expected to undergo significant range shifts in the decades to come. As temperatures increase and patterns of rain/snow change, many tree species will have to find ways to adjust. And, this means that the birds, mammals, and other wildlife that depend on these forests will also have to adjust, not to mention the livelihoods and communities that are closely tied to the many services provided by the forests.

Here are a few examples of what climate change means for our forests:

• In the Rockies, forests are facing major changes as a result of droughts, wildfires, and insect outbreaks, all fueled by the warming conditions. More than 6 million acres of pine forest in Colorado and Wyoming alone have been devastated by mountain pine beetle outbreaks, drastically affecting the heart of the region’s tourism industry. The loss of white-bark pine has wildlife managers worried about the impacts on wildlife—including grizzly bears—that depend on pine nuts as an important food source.
• As the Southwest faces more intense and frequent megadroughts, chances are that we won’t be able to have forests in many of the places they are currently found. A recent study based on tree-ring analysis found that these megadroughts are now happening about 14 percent of the time, up from about 5 percent during the past 1000 years. If we keep polluting at the same rate, the Southwest could be in megadrought conditions 80 percent of the time during the second half of this century.
• In Alaska, forests are already beginning to encroach on the tundra. Wildlife species that are specifically adapted to tundra conditions are especially at risk. For example the arctic fox is facing new competition from forest-adapted red foxes.
• Climate change is projected to make parts of the Northwest much less suitable for many of the conifers for which the region is famous. In Washington State, for example, Douglas fir could be lost from over 32 percent of its current range.
• In the Northeast, spruce-fir forests are expected to recede up mountain slopes as temperatures become too warm for their survival, to be replaced by oak-dominated forests. Eastern hemlock is expected to be lost across most of its U.S. range as warmer winter temperatures allow the destructive hemlock woody aldegid to survive and spread. Many wildlife species rely upon the year-round cover of these evergreen species.

Conservation Approaches Branching Out, Too

Forest and wildlife managers are realizing that our approaches to conservation need to match the new challenges confronting our forests. When making plans for how and where we protect forests, we now need to think about possible shifts in forest ranges, changes in wildfire and pest outbreaks, and the impacts of more heat waves, droughts, and heavy rainfall events.

National Wildlife Federation is helping lead efforts to make conservation efforts climate-smart. For example, in a project to restore Ohio’s Black River, NWF made recommendations about which tree species to plant based on climate model projections of how tree ranges will shift. Our efforts with rural landowners in Alabama have helped them understand the value of longleaf pine as a native species that is more resilient to climate extremes than other pine species.

At the same time, conservationists, city planners, and water managers are looking to trees and forests as a way to increase the resiliency of our communities to climate change. Trees are critical infrastructure for cities and towns, and tree plantings, like those NWF is urging for National Wildlife Week, can help create more shade and reduce the need for air conditioning during heat waves. Healthy forests also help soak up heavy rainfall, reducing the likelihood of downstream floods while providing natural filtration for drinking water.

Don’t Forget Carbon Storage

When it comes to climate change, perhaps the most compelling reason to protect our forests and urban canopies is the crucial role trees play in removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it for a long time. In fact, the regrowth of trees in the Northeast currently offsets about 16 percent of the nation’s carbon pollution from burning coal, oil, and gas.

Trees are a bigger part of the carbon pollution equation than many people realize.  That’s why NWF is working hard to fight deforestation in the Amazon and support forestry programs here at home. And, that’s why we hope that you’ll take a moment to plant a tree (or even better, a LOT of trees!) this year.

My colleagues Doug Inkley, Celia Haven and I had the opportunity to share some climate-smart restoration success stories (both on land and in water), stories that prove that climate-smart restoration can be achieved in a timely, cost-effective and beneficial manner.

What is climate-smart restoration?

Great Lakes Climate-Smart Restoration Projects 2012.

Benefits of climate-smart restoration include enhancing the value of restoration investments, increasing project durability over the long term, and protecting the overall health of the Great Lakes from increasing air temperatures, droughts and floods, and other impacts of climate change.

NWF, along with partners EcoAdapt and with the support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, created a “how-to” guide for integrating climate change into large restoration projects called Restoring the Great Lakes Coastal Future. The process outlined in this guidance is currently being implemented in seven projects throughout the Great Lakes basin.

At Great Lakes Week we highlighted two of these projects, Lower Black River Habitat Restoration and Habitat Restoration in the Maumee Area of Concern. Both projects are located in the state of Ohio on Lake Erie’s shorelines.

Lower Black River Restoration: Fish, Fish Fish!

Slag piles along the Black River. Photo by Melinda Koslow, 2012.

This project has many partners—federal, private and non-profit—providing jobs for local residents.

What could climate change possibly have to do with this project? Doug Inkley, Senior Scientist with NWF says:

The area is already experiencing heavier rainfall and more severe drought affecting water levels and stream flows. Our current fish habitat restoration approaches along the river shoreline do not account for large changes, but with a few low-cost modifications, we can increase the chances that the fish populations will endure. Addressing climate change in restoration work can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.

This year, low water levels caused planners to heed the call of adjusting what are called fish shelves, protected places for fish to spawn, for different water level scenarios in the future. Climate-smart restoration success in this project has meant designing fish shelves at different grades to provide refuge for fish when the water levels rise or fall.

Restoration of habitat along the Black River takes hold while slag piles are removed. Photo by Melinda Koslow, 2012.

Melinda shows “stand-ins” for President Obama and Governor Romney during an event on the Black River. Photo by David Gershman.

To learn more about this project read here.

Habitat in Maumee Bay: Trees, Trees, Trees!

I also had the opportunity to discuss successes of climate-smart restoration in the Maumee Bay Area of Concern. This project is restoring almost 600 acres of wetland, forest, rivers and sedge meadow for one of the largest migratory landbird habitats in the country.

As restoration practitioners pick tree species, we need to consider the warming air temperatures that change the ranges within which trees can survive. NWF and partners are assessing the vulnerability trees have to warming air temperatures and changing water levels in order to pick a mix of species best suited to survive 20, 50, 100 years down the road.

Restoration site, soon to be re-forested. Photo by Melinda Koslow, 2011.

To learn more about this project read here.

Thank you to the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition for providing a venue to tell our stories. We will have more to tell as these projects progress!

As we continue to restore the Great Lakes and other important habitats around the country, we can help wildlife survive the changing climate through climate-smart restoration efforts. In the meantime, we must also continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change and reduce future impacts to wildlife.

A new report that brings together recent research on how climate change is affecting plants, animals, and habitats in the United States confirms what we already suspected: the changes are happening faster than previously thought, with more compelling evidence of impacts piling up.

The new report Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services was produced as a technical input into the 2013 National Climate Assessment (NCA).  My NWF colleague Bruce Stein and I served on the steering committee and helped author several chapters of the report.

More Evidence of How Climate Change Is Affecting Nature

The report focuses on new research contributions from the last 5 or so years, and there have been many. Among the major findings of the report:

• Climate change is causing many species to shift their ranges and distributions faster than previously thought.  Terrestrial species are moving up in elevation 2 to 3 times faster than initial estimates;
• There is increased evidence of species population declines and localized extinctions that can be directly attributed to climate change.  Species living at high altitudes and latitudes are especially vulnerable to climate change;
• Changes in precipitation and extreme weather events can increase transport of nutrients and pollutants downstream.  Drinking water quality is very likely to be strained as higher rainfall and river discharge lead to more nitrogen in waters and greater risk of waterborne disease outbreak;
• Ecosystem services provided by coastal habitats are especially vulnerable to sea level rise and more severe storms. The Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts are the most vulnerable to the loss of coastal protection services provided by wetlands and coral reefs.  Coastal communities on the Pacific coast are also vulnerable;
• Changes in winter can have big and surprising effects on ecosystems and their services, including impacting agricultural and forest production.

Climate Change Adaptation Gaining More Prominence

This report devotes a chapter to climate change adaptation, an area where there has also been significant progress made in the last five years. NWF’s contributions to advancing the conceptual framework and practice of adaptation are particularly featured.

With ecosystems facing the effects of climate change more rapidly than previously anticipated, the key findings of the adaptation chapter stress that our expectations of what can be accomplished with adaptation efforts and current conservation strategies will also need to be revisited:

• Adaptation can range from efforts to retain status quo conditions to actively managing system transitions; however, even the most aggressive adaptation strategies may be unable to prevent irreversible losses of biodiversity or serious degradation of ecosystems and their services.
• Static protected areas will not be sufficient to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate, requiring an emphasis on landscape-scale conservation, connectivity among protected habitats, and sustaining ecological functioning of working lands and waters.

Thus, the ongoing efforts of federal and state agencies to plan for and integrate climate change research into resource management and actions—many of which are cataloged in the report—are essential for safeguarding the future of wildlife. But, we will also need aggressive action to curb carbon pollution to avoid reaching the limits of what adaptation strategies can accomplish.

Next Stop: Public Review of Draft NCA Report

This technical input is already being considered by the authors of the next National Climate Assessment report, which will include a chapter on ecosystems, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. In addition, the chapters focused on individual regions of the nation will address the impacts on their ecosystems.

We will get our first look at the draft report this coming December when it will be released for a 3-month public comment period. The draft will undergo expert peer review, and the NCA is also seeking broad stakeholder review. They define stakeholders as “individuals and organizations whose activities, decisions, and policies are sensitive to or affected by climate.” In other words, everybody is a stakeholder.   So, mark your calendars to set aside some time to provide your comments to the NCA when the draft is available this winter.

It’s been a hot year so far in D.C. (Photo: Trishhhh – Flickr)

As it turns out, I arrived just in time to experience D.C.’s warmest recorded spring, with March, April, and May averaging 5.4 degrees hotter than normal (and 1.5 degrees higher than the previous 1977 record). Like most cities, D.C. suffers from the urban heat island effect: the high concentration of materials like concrete, steel, and asphalt retain the sun’s heat much more than natural surfaces, raising the average temperature of the city and surrounding area. Combined with the already increased temperatures due to climate change, D.C. was practically boiling this “Spring.” So what could we really expect from Summer other than a record-setting 9-day streak of 95+ degree temperatures in June and the second hottest July on record?

Visitors to the National Mall look to to beat the heat in the shade of trees and the Washington Monument (Photo: david_jones – Flickr)

Urban tree canopy enhancement is just one of many strategies that cities across the country are adopting to prepare for the ongoing and future effects of climate change. If you’d like to learn more about what NWF is doing to help cities and towns become better prepared for the future, check out the new Climate-Smart Communities page on our website.

A Black Billed Magpie during an early morning walk in Aspen, Colorado. Photo by Melinda Koslow, 2012.

This year the Forum tackled the idea of “Living With the New Normal,” a response to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s actual air temperature measurements that show the U.S. yearly normal temperatures are now 0.5 degrees F higher in 1981 to 2010 than they were from 1971 – 2000.

In parts of the Great Lakes region average air temperature increase is closer to 1 degree F.

Using standards established by the World Meteorological Organization, the 30-year normals are used to compare current climate conditions with recent history. Local weathercasters traditionally use normals for comparisons with the day’s weather conditions.

What does this mean for our planet? I tackle these questions through the framework of the three main points of discussion at the Forum.

How is the planet responding to this new normal?

I’ll bring in a Great Lakes example for this one. The most obvious is probably the recent flash flooding in Duluth, Minnesota. Over two days, more than seven inches (some reports are closer to 9 or 10 inches) of rain fell, breaking rainfall records and causing a raging river through the city.

Precipitation totals for Duluth area June 19-20, 2012. Photo from NOAA, 2012.

Two-thirds of the zoo was under water, said Holly Henry Marketing Director of the Lake Superior Zoo.

The flooding hit wallets also. Early estimates from the state of Minnesota show at least $100 million in damage.

Storm runoff from June flood in Duluth, Minnesota. Photo by NOAA, 2012.

According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the Midwest has already experienced a 37% increase in very heavy precipitation since 1958.

The elements are not matching up. While there’s a problem of too much water in Minnesota, Colorado has a problem of too much fire. Record temperatures in the 100 degrees F and dry conditions have made it very difficult for brave firefighters to do their jobs.

NWF’s own Rocky Mountain Regional Center staff tell more detailed personal accounts of the fires here.

Although we have to be careful to attribute short-term events to climate change, what we do know is that these types of extremes and record-breaking events help us to understand the growing risk that the warming atmosphere induces.

Climate is what you affect, weather is what gets you. – Myles Allen

Read more about the effects of climate change on extreme weather patterns in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program’s report Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate, Regions of Focus: North America, Hawaii, Caribbean, and U.S. Pacific Islands or in climatologist Heidi Cullen’s book The Weather of the Future.

How are we responding to this new normal?

See no evil, hear no evil, say no evil. Photo by Melinda Koslow, 2012.

Flickr/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, 2010.

This work requires lots of relationships across state, tribal and federal lines and across all sectors of the economy to help wildlife survive these changes. NWF is a leader in practicing climate-smart conservation in all approaches to saving wildlife – ecological restoration (especially in the Great Lakes), planning, urban habitats, understanding how and why we are vulnerable and more.

It can be done.

These actions not only save wildlife, but also help our human habitats deal with a new normal. For example, every wetland we restore helps reduce the impact of flooding and water quality pollution to our cities.

How adapting does not mean accepting.

Flickr/Natalie Lucier, 2009.

Conservationist E.O. Wilson and I. Photo by Melinda Koslow, 2012.

Yet, I still think about those people who emulate the three “wise” monkeys. When will they also respond?

To paraphrase Harvard biologist and famous conservationist, E.O. Wilson, a human response to a message they don’t want to hear is often like this, “First the ridicule, then the outrage, followed by claims of ‘it’s what we’ve been saying for a while.’”

My opinion? It’s really what we’ve been saying for a while.

Alaska’s Inside Passage is one of many wild and iconic places in the NPLCC region. (Credit: Patricia Tillmann)

6 Management Challenges Presented by Climate Change

Using a survey and thirteen web-based focus group discussions, we asked project participants a series of questions about how climate change was affecting their work to better understand the challenges and opportunities associated with managing ecosystems, habitats, and species in light of current and potential future climate change effects. After analyzing their answers, six primary climate change-related management challenges were identified:

1. It is difficult to know how to identify and use climate-related science, data, tools, and/or information.
2. It is difficult to incorporate uncertainty related to climate change into one’s work.
   

   The NPLCC region is dominated by coastal temperate rainforests and some of the most productive marine waters in the world. (Credit: U.S. FWS)

3. Because climate change is most often framed as a new factor to consider in management, addressing climate change may compete with existing priorities or the wrong priorities may be pursued when climate change is not addressed in management practice.
4. There is a lack of capacity to address climate change, including technical, institutional, and financial capacity.
5. There are institutional, international, cultural, and/or social barriers to addressing climate change.
6. There is a lack of coordination, collaboration, and communication around climate change issues.

We then asked project participants to suggest climate-related science and information needs that, if fulfilled, would advance their ability to incorporate climate change into their work. Potential science and information needs ranged from funding the collection of basic hydrologic data to mapping the location of vulnerable habitats or species and convening workshops to allow managers and scientists from diverse fields to collaborate on identifying adaptation approaches that will work across a broad landscape. The latter suggestion – convening workshops – was already a planned activity for our project.

3 Workshops to Identify and Inform Strategic Planning and Priority-setting

The three workshops brought together ecosystem and climate change experts from agencies, conservation organizations, and universities to further define and refine the potential science and information needs identified through the surveys and web-based focus groups. Participants were asked to evaluate a potential need across four criteria, each of which provides information to the NPLCC about when, where, or for what purpose a particular need is suggested:

Focus group participants from Alaska discussed climate change effects and related managment priorities for sea lions. (Credit: Patricia Tillmann)

• Decision-relevance: what decisions this information would help answer
• Spatial and temporal scale: specify the geographic region and whether the information is needed on an annual, seasonal, daily, etc. timescale
• Timeline/urgency: when this information is needed, tell us why this is important
• Partners/ongoing efforts: who might already have this information or might be well suited to develop it

The final step in this project is to synthesize the information gathered from the survey, web-based focus groups, and in-person workshops. My colleagues and I will work closely with our partners at the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group and the NPLCC to produce a report that is thoroughly reviewed by project participants and synthesizes the information gathered in a way that both accurately reflects participants’ feedback and helps inform the NPLCC’s short- and long-term planning and prioritization efforts.

195 People to Thank for Building the Partnership

All of this work and all of these results were made possible by the 195 project participants and partners that devoted their time, energy, and expertise to thinking about how the NPLCC could best advance climate change adaptation efforts in the region. It has been inspiring, educational, and fun. We have made great strides in just the last nine months; I can’t wait to see what this partnership does in the next nine months! Thank you, project participants and partners, for your commitment and insight throughout the process.

Flickr\\Sarah Macmillan

As we, hopefully, behave well to make the “nice” list and bake our delicious cookies to be left with milk, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some changes Santa and Mrs. Claus are experiencing in the North Pole and around the planet.

Changes that quite likely will require Santa to make some big adjustments.

What’s happening to Santa’s elf workshop in the North Pole?

Graph from NSIDC, 2010.

If this decline continues, and most climate models are in agreement that it will continue and even worsen, Santa and his elves are going to have to find a different place to put up shop or be left to float in the ocean.

Flickr\\François Roche

How will sleigh travel be impacted?

Have you flown lately and noticed a few more bumps than usual? This experience is not in your head.

According to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming causes water temperatures to warm, and the rising heat from those waters can lead to more disturbances in the upper atmosphere. It’s those upper-air disturbances that cause in-flight turbulence. His sleigh rides might be a bit bumpy. Perhaps he might even be forced to delay certain routes around the globe if they are unsafe due to a large storm.

What will Santa wear?

It might get too warm in Santa’s signature red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots. As air temperatures rise, perhaps he might fancy himself in some Bermuda shorts and candy-cane-colored shirtsleeves. Just as long as he doesn’t shave his beard!

What about the reindeer?

Flickr\\Timo Newton-Syms

Protecting reindeer is yet another reason to reduce carbon emissions to prevent even warmer temperatures from pushing them out of their habitat.

What can Santa do to keep his way of life?

Santa likes his way of life in the north pole, wearing his beard and red coat, sailing smoothly with his trusty reindeer. He cares about reducing carbon emissions to lessen and prevent climate change. For example, his sleigh is powered purely by renewable reindeer energy! He also uses wind power to power his toy workshop as wind is abundant in the North Pole. He also re-uses and recycles wood, plastic and other materials from older toys into creating toys for this upcoming season!

To learn more about how we can reduce big changes and protect Santa’s way of life, please see National Wildlife Federation’s Global Warming Solutions. Enjoy this holiday season!

Participants learn web-based tools. Photo by Melinda Koslow.

The Great Lakes, often referred to as our nation’s third coast, has as much coastal shoreline as the Atlantic coast of the United States. The diversity of wildlife habitat is unlike anywhere else in the world.

Why is this workshop important?

The Great Lakes region is currently experiencing climate change impacts like warmer air and water temperatures, decline of lake ice, and increased heavy events of snow and rain. More of these impacts, along with some unexpected surprises, await us in the future. Actions to integrate these impacts and potential surprises into conservation efforts today and into the future will greatly enhance wildlife survival.

Participants discuss many topics like invasive species management. Photo by Melinda Koslow

Who attended the workshop?

Professionals who work in conservation and restoration of wildlife habitat in the Great Lakes. They represent states, tribal nations, governmental and non-governmental organizations.

What did they learn?

Participants learned strategies and tools for applying climate change impacts to actions that control invasive species, restore toxic hot-spots, expand habitat for fish and birds and manage agricultural watersheds. They also had “hands-on” training on web-based tools such as Climate Wizard, CAKE, and NOAA’s CanVis.

What does coastal habitat conservation look like in the “real world?”

Participants at Erie Marsh Coastal Wetland Restoration site. Photo by Melinda Koslow.

Participants visited two Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-funded sites on Lake Erie to see what coastal habitat conservation in a changing climate looks like.

These sites represent one of the largest marshes on Lake Erie and rare and unique lakeland prairie.

Erie marsh is on the western edge of Lake Erie. Photo by Melinda Koslow.

Restoring these sites will enhance habitat for waterfowl, raptors, turtles, beaver, shorebirds and songbirds, fish to name a few – plus will enhance the habitat of Lake Erie itself.

Restoration professionals at the site explained their plans for dealing with climate change impacts such as lake level decline and warmer air temperatures and also discussed how this restoration will protect people from climate change impacts by acting as a buffer from large rain storms and as a filter for better water quality.

Participants also had a chance to provide input into the upcoming National Climate Assessment. You can too as this assessment is intended to provide the latest climate change information for all of us!

To learn more about ecological restoration in a changing climate, see National Wildlife Federation’s guide Restoring the Great Lakes Coastal Future.

This workshop is part of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) series of workshops focused on strategies and tools for coastal habitat conservation, restoration, and management, in a changing climate. Support for this workshop was provided by the NOAA Climate Program Office, Office of Habitat Conservation, and Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Team.

To learn more about this workshop please visit the Joint Office for Science Support.

The weather is hotter and more severe, and Americans are paying for it with their lives and their life-savings.

The frequency and intensity of storms, droughts, and other severe weather patterns is increasing and underscores the need for all communities to cope with, build resilience to, and generally be prepared for a changing climate (often called “climate change adaptation”).  Many federal agencies, including The Department of Interior and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), have programs in place to safeguard people and wildlife from the impacts of climate change, including changes in weather patterns, which deliver not only environmental benefits, but also long-term cost savings to every American.

However, Congressional leaders in the House have used the Federal Appropriations debates to strip funding from programs designed to protect and prepare communities from the impacts of severe weather, including a rider that would block the EPA’s ability to fund anti-disaster preparedness programs that provide crucial storm-protection services, block the Interior Department from preparing land areas from flooding, fires, and droughts, and limit the Forest Service’s ability to prevent and respond to forest fires. Another rider that already passed would prevent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from implementing its climate adaptation task force and from making any preparations to protect citizens from the impacts of climate change which will have far-reaching impacts because the U.S. Coast Guard and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) fall under the DHS umbrella.

Scientists at Stanford University recently made the direct link between climate change and the intensity of hot weather that is now the “new normal” for American communities, and increased temperatures can be correlated to more unpredictable and severe weather patterns, like hurricanes. Already, steep cuts have been proposed to the entire Department of Interior and the EPA, and more anti-climate riders and amendments could follow before the bill passes.

We know that the protections and climate change planning activities we have now are not enough -

How much additional risk can Americans afford?

Bill Morrow\Flickr

Since 1870 the National Weather Service, a branch of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), helps protect our lives and property from a tornado or other severe weather event. Even if you get weather information from your local TV meteorologist he or she cannot properly issue a weather warning without the determination of National Weather Service’s highly-trained around-the-clock scientists.

As severe storms this week brought harm to many in the south and eastern part of the United States, it is increasingly clear how important early detection and warning is to our safety.

NOAA also recognizes the need to detect and plan for impacts from climate change such as sea level rise and severe drought.

Where could we turn to get the climate change information needed to protect ourselves and wildlife?

To make climate change information accessible and useful for the public NOAA is creating the structure necessary for a National Climate Service.

Travis\Flickr

The Climate Service will assist answers to questions such as: How much might areas of the northern Great Lakes warm making moose more susceptible to disease? Or, what communities can expect extreme flooding and at what time of year?

There is no service currently in place to provide such information.

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco says:

Advances in science make it possible for us to provide useful information about the months-to-years time-frame – something that has potential to be of immense utility to businesses, communities, natural resources and military operations.

Last week Congress did a disservice to national protection and planning efforts by blocking a measure to create this National Climate Service.

House members on both sides of the aisle defeated the measure. It is unknown what their true motivation is but it seems to be another attempt to squash climate change science.

Imagine what kind of trouble we would be in if the National Weather Service wasn’t available to translate weather science into warnings and forecasts for the public. The benefits of a National Climate Service are innumerable.

What does the future hold for a National Climate Service?

The issue of establishing a National Climate Service is being revisited in the fight over the FY 2012 budget. They will have to move very quickly as there is only 5 ½ months before the start of FY 2012.

We need your help to ensure this important service is implemented to protect people and wildlife.

Learn about the National Climate Service and visit its prototype website. Call your House Representative today and tell them not to deny information to protect people and wildlife from climate change by supporting a National Climate Service.

Learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s efforts to protect wildlife from climate change impacts.