UW climate expert: We are moving into uncharted territory
Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond is such a Pacific Northwesterner that he feels a little sad whenever it stops raining. He wants Western Washington remain the place he has known since arriving at the University of Washington 40 years ago. He knows it won’t, thanks to climate change.
“By the middle of this century, for most systems, there will be no looking back. The very warmest conditions now will be the routine conditions then. The warm years will be something we haven’t seen,” Bond said. “It’s not going to be uninhabitable. We’re not doomed, but we’re moving into uncharted territory.”
As temperatures climb, Bond said, different trees will thrive and there will be a different mix of crops in the North Puget Sound. There will be — and already are — winners and losers in the animal kingdom.
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Decreasing mountain snowpack is Bond’s biggest concern. That threatens downstream water supplies, both in quantity and timing of runoff. Reservoirs such as Spada Lake, which provides Everett’s drinking water, might not fill — even as the region’s population keeps growing.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/uw-climate-expert-we-are-moving-into-uncharted-territory/
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