Climate change and the Northwest United States

With craggy shorelines, volcanic mountains, and high sage deserts, the Northwest’s complex and varied topography contributes to the region’s rich climatic, geographic, social, and ecologic diversity. Abundant natural resources – timber, fisheries, productive soils, and plentiful water – remain important to the region’s economy. All these resources will be affected by climate change, and understanding the likely impacts is key to planning for and adapting to the Northwest and for understanding what climate change means for the region. In this presentation, we discuss the main climate changes and their expected impacts on Northwest hydrology, coasts, forests, and agricultural systems.