Hunters & Climate Change
Climate change is already having significant impacts on fish and game animals and their habitats. Hunters and fishermen are on the front lines of climate change, as many are already seeing the effects of it on their hunting and fishing opportunities. It can stress coldwater fish, threaten waterfowl reproduction, and has even been linked to species extinctions. Organizations such as Ducks Unlimited and Trout Unlimited are on record that climate change poses a threat to animals and their environments. If unchecked, the changing climate risks the traditions of sportsmen and future hunting opportunities.
Warming waters are impacting the health of fish. Many are sensitive to temperature and can survive only in specific temperature ranges.
Source: Climate Central
Fast Facts
bird species have moved further north due to climate change
%
of North American birds are at increasing risk of extinction from global temperature rise
%
decrease in New Hampshire moose population since the mid 1990s
Heard Around the Country
Local Salmon Face Dire Future Amid Effects Of Climate Change
There’s little good news these days for salmon in the Lake Washington watershed, and new information from researchers paints an even bleaker future for some of Washington state’s most cherished animals. The number of kokanee salmon returning to spawn in the...
Idaho’s Declining Moose Numbers Prompt Reduction in Hunting Opportunities
The Idaho Fish and Game commission voted last week to drastically reduce the number of available moose tags for the 2019-20 seasons. Climate change, reduced forage and predation are blamed for the large ungulates’ decline, Idaho Department of Fish and Game regional...
Climate Change and Hunting
Rising seas, drought, famine, mass extinctions - the environmental and economic disasters that a consensus of scientists has predicted to occur by the end of the century as a result of climate change are well known. Scientists, however, are only just beginning to...
How are climate & weather different?
Climate means the long term behavior of weather. Weather is local and short-term; climate describes the average weather for a region at a given time of year based on historical patterns. Climate change means the average temperature and precipitation is not following those old patterns.
Where is there scientific agreement?
The world’s leading scientific organizations, including MIT and NASA, agree that human-caused climate change is happening and just a few more degrees of warming will increase the risk of intense storms, sea level rise and other extreme weather events.
How much warming has happened?
People have caused about 1.5ºF of unnatural warming by putting greenhouse gases into the air since 1889. While it may not sound like much, the extra warming has been linked to some natural disasters such as wildfires in the U.S. and drought in the Mediterranean.
Visualizing Climate Change
- Wildlife are facing increasingly dangerous situations brought on by warming waters, shorter winters, longer droughts, invasive species, and shifting vegetation.
- Shifting habitats, food sources and migration patterns are a few of the critical factors changing hunting conditions.
- Many hunting and outdoors groups support actions to reduce carbon emissions to protect their heritage.
Sources and Citations
- U.S. Global Change Research Program. Fourth National Climate Assessment. https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/
Media
- Climate Central. In Hot Water: Warming Waters are Stressing Fish and the Fishing Industry.
www.climatecentral.org/news/in-hot-water-warming-waters-are-stressing-fish-and-the-fishing-industry-2019 - MeatEater. Sportsmen & Climate Change – Conservation Field Notes with Steven Rinella