Shawn Vestal: On climate, we ignore Chapter 24 at our peril
Hotter, drier, smokier summers. More rain and less snow in the winters. Droughts, overflowing rivers and coastal surges. Sunburned apples and softer berries. More heat stroke and Lyme disease. Less skiing and boating, more respiratory problems, suffering fisheries. That’s what’s in store for the Northwest, according to the Fourth National Climate Assessment.
Section:Gallery
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The U.S. Pavilion and Clock Tower are shrouded in heavy smoke blanketing the region Sunday, Aug. 19, 2018, in downtown Spokane.
Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
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"I can stay indoors or I can wear a mask," said Bill Leong as he took his daily walk around a smoke filled Spokane on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017.
Kathy Plonka The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
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The smokey sun shines over a sunflower at Wheeler's Farm Market in Spokane Valley on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017.
Kathy Plonka The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
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The spires of Saint Aloysius Catholic Church are clouded in smoke from regional fires generating unhealthy air in much of northeastern Washington and North Idaho, Monday, Aug. 13, 2018.
Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
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Matt Jackson makes his way east on Cataldo Avenue, Sunday, Aug, 19, 2018 near downtown Spokane. Jackson started the day intending to take a long bicycle ride but had to go to REI to purchase a bandana to cover his face for the ride home as smoke blanketed the region.
Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
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Raindrops cling to the hood of a car, Tuesday, Sept 19, 2017. Cooler temperatures and the chance of rain continues through Thursday.
Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
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In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a blacklegged tick - also known as a deer tick. Diagnosing if a tick bite caused Lyme or something else can be difficult but scientists are developing a new way to catch the disease early, using a "signature" of molecules in patients' blood.
James Gathany Cdc
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In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, salmon circle just below the surface inside a lock where they joined boats heading from salt water Shilshole Bay into fresh water Salmon Bay at the Ballard Locks in Seattle. The mass of warm water known as 'the blob' that heated up the North Pacific Ocean has dissipated, but scientists are still seeing the lingering effects of those unusually warm sea surface temperatures on Northwest salmon and steelhead. A federal research survey this summer turned up among the lowest numbers of juvenile salmon in their nets in 20 years, suggesting that many fish did not survive their first months at sea.
Elaine Thompson Associated Press
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In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, salmon, identified by biologists as a coho, left, and a Chinook, swim past viewing windows at a fish ladder where salt water transitions to fresh at the Ballard Locks in Seattle. The mass of warm water known as 'the blob' that heated up the North Pacific Ocean has dissipated, but scientists are still seeing the lingering effects of those unusually warm sea surface temperatures on Northwest salmon and steelhead.
Elaine Thompson Associated Press
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Mosquitos are sorted at the Dallas County mosquito lab in Dallas, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. The last time Dallas used aerial spraying to curb the mosquito population, Texas' Lyndon Johnson was in the White House, Mission Control in Houston was launching Gemini missions and encephalitis was blamed for more than a dozen deaths. But for the first time in more than 45 years, the city and county planned Thursday to resume dropping insecticide from the air to combat the nation's worst outbreak of West Nile virus, which has killed 10 people and caused at least 200 others to fall ill.
Lm Otero Associated Press