FISHING — Native cutthroat trout are likely to feel the heat from climate change.

A new study shows a changing climate could reduce suitable trout habitat in the western U.S. by about 50 percent over the next 70 years, with some trout species experiencing greater declines than others.

The results were reported by a team of 11 scientists from Trout Unlimited, the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Colorado State University, the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group.

The study, published today in the peer-reviewed science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, predicts native cutthroat throughout the West could decline by as much as 58 percent, while introduced brook trout could decline by as much as 77 percent.   Rainbow and brown trout populations, according to the study, would also decline by an estimated 35 percent and 48 percent respectively. (Read the study report.)

The study notes that the decline of cutthroat trout is “of particular significance,” because cutthroats are the only trout native to much of the West and a keystone species in the Rocky Mountain ecosystem.

Read on for reaction from Trout Unlimited, and some reason for hope.

The following was asked on The S-R's candidate questionnaire. Candidate Chris Bowen declined to submit a questionnaire. Here are the answers, which were allowed to be up to 150 words, from the five other people hoping to replace Bob Apple and represent Northeast Spokane on the council.

Do you support the sustainability plan promoted by Mayor Mary Verner, which was adopted by the Spokane City Council in 2010? Do you support the decision of former Mayor Dennis Hession to sign the U.S.Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement?

Continue reading the post to find out their answers.

A “Frozen Gore” ice sculpture is unveiled Tuesday in Fairbanks, Alaska. The block, hooked up to the exhaust of a pickup  to make it appear Gore is spouting hot air, is a dig from two businessmen at Gore’s beliefs about climate change.

Last week a severe storm froze Dallas under a sheet of ice, just in time to disrupt the plans of the tens of thousands of (American) football fans descending on the city for the Super Bowl. On the other side of the globe, Cyclone Yasi slammed northeastern Australia, destroying homes and crops and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

Some climate alarmists would have us believe that these storms are yet another baleful consequence of man-made CO2 emissions. In addition to the latest weather events, they also point to recent cyclones in Burma, last winter's fatal chills in Nepal and Bangladesh, December's blizzards in Britain, and every other drought, typhoon and unseasonable heat wave around the world.

But is it true? To answer that question, you need to understand whether recent weather trends are extreme by historical standards. The Twentieth Century Reanalysis Project is the latest attempt to find out, using super-computers to generate a dataset of global atmospheric circulation from 1871 to the present.

Is the weather getting weirder?

H/t Bent

CLIMATE CHANGE— Last year was a climatological wonder, with figures indicating that 2010 was not only the wettest since record keeping began in 1860, but the year also tied with 2005 for the hottest, according to a story in The New York Times.
  

Good evening, Netizens…

Today cartoonist David Horsey takes a shot at global warming and climate change in light of the blizzards, snowfall and bad winter weather on the Eastern Coast that largely shut down several major US cities. There are some who persist in believing that the largely unprecedented snowfall in Atlanta, Georgia is somehow related to climate change. There are perhaps even more who swear vociferously that the freezing spell to hit Florida's citrus-growing areas are likewise caused by climate change rather than weather.

The question remains largely unanswered whether these dramatic weather changes are normal cyclical aberrations of weather or part of an evolution in our climate.

I'll concede pollution of our atmosphere caused by fossil fuels and airborne hydrocarbon byproducts are being largely blamed for changes in our climate, and perhaps that is so. Al Gore would have us believe this is true, as would some of our most-critical thinkers in atmospheric studies.

Still, in our climatological history, we have seen the Deep South and portions of the Eastern United States have severe cold snaps and occasional blizzards in other eras long before we polluted our atmosphere with hydrocarbons.

Perhaps the only viable understanding of climate change requires that we as a learned people, discuss and analyze the long-term weather trends to see what is or is not truthful.

Dave

The Spokane City Council just after midnight adopted a plan aimed at cutting carbon emissions and reducing the city’s dependence on oil.

The 5-2 decision was the second time the council voted on a report finished last year by Mayor Mary Verner’s 13-member Sustainability Task Force. Council members Nancy McLaughlin and Bob Apple voted against the plan.

When the council took its first action on the plan, in May 2009, there were only enough votes on the council to “accept” the report. Since then, two City Council members have been replaced.

“I’m honored to have another opportunity to adopt” the report,” City Councilman Steve Corker late Monday night.

City officials say that new state rules require that the city have an “adopted” plan to reduce emissions to qualify for some state grants.

The report recommends several steps the city should take to cut its dependence on oil and reduce the city’s negative effect on climate change. Ideas include promoting energy-efficient construction and transportation. It also sets a goal for the city to acquire 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

BILLINGS – A federal judge has approved a first-of-its-kind settlement requiring the government to suspend 38,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana so it can gauge how oil field activities contribute to climate change.

At issue are the greenhouse gases emitted by drilling machinery and industry practices such as venting natural gas directly into the atmosphere.

Environmentalists – who sued when the Montana leases were sold in 2008 – argued the industry has allowed too much waste and uses inefficient technologies that could easily be updated. Full story. Matthew Brown, AP

Thoughts?

The Greenland ice sheet, shown above, is reportedly losing 200 million cubic meters of ice a year.

WASHINGTON, DC — Following a scandal over stolen emails and the discovery of errors in a prominent research report, the number of Americans in doubt over climate change has grown, particularly along ideological lines.

A Gallup poll published last week found that overall, more Americans feel the media exaggerates the seriousness of climate change today than they did two years ago. Women, liberals and young adults are more likely to believe the effects of climate change are already happening. Story here.

Is your opinion about climate change different than the view you held a few years ago?

In tomorrow’s paper:

A controversial “cap and trade” plan that would put Washington at the forefront of efforts to combat global warming has been dramatically watered down under pressure from businesses and rural Republicans.

Nonetheless, proponents say they remain optimistic. The bill, requested by Gov. Chris Gregoire, cleared a key House committee Tuesday.

“It’s still viable. It establishes a real cap” on greenhouse gases, said state Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish. “That’s a critical first step.”

Among the sharpest critics of the bill: Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda. Saying that the plan will destroy rural industries, he’s blasted it as “cap and extort” and says that trading pollution credits would spawn cronyism. He’s publicly suggested that disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich would be a good fit to run it.

“He’s well-suited to run a system like that,” Kretz said in an interview Wednesday. “And he’s looking for work.”