NOAA To Release Updated U.S. Climate Data That Will Establish New Climate ‘Normals’
April 9th, 2021
NOAA will soon release a much-anticipated update of U.S. climate data for placing recent weather conditions—such as heat waves and flooding rain—into historical context.
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Strategy For A Drying Northwest: In Some Places Fish Rescue May Be Only Feasible Management Option To Avoid Extinction
April 2nd, 2021
As the climate warms and more and more cascading streams dry up, changing those streams to disconnected puddles that trap migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead, humans may have to step in to rescue the fish. Without this intervention, some stocks may go extinct, according to a recent study.
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Don’t Overlook Importance Of Warm Water Habitats For Cold Water Fish: ‘Potentially Severe Blind Spot For Climate Change Adaptation’
April 2nd, 2021
Warm river habitats appear to play a larger than expected role supporting the survival of cold-water fish, such as salmon and trout, a new Oregon State University-led study found.
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Would Floating Solar Farms On Large Reservoirs Mitigate For Warming Climate? Researchers Study Pros, Cons
April 1st, 2021
Floating solar farms could help to protect lakes and reservoirs from some of the harms of climate change, a new study suggests.
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AN EXCHANGE: Are Lower Snake Dams Or Ocean Conditions Responsible For Continued Low Smolt-To-Adult Returns?
March 18th, 2021
Last month 68 leading salmon and fisheries scientists sent a letter to Northwest governors, the Northwest congressional delegation, and policymakers that summarizes actions they say are necessary to protect and restore abundant salmon and steelhead runs to the Columbia/Snake river basin. Subject: “Scientists’ letter on the need for lower Snake River dam removal to protect salmon and steelhead from extinction and restore abundant, fishable populations.”
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Where Salmon Spend The Most Time: Ocean Conditions Good For Fish Right Now, Heat Wave Expected Later This Year
March 11th, 2021
Looking at weather and climate indicators, a leading ocean scientist says conditions along the West Coast are good for fish, at least momentarily. However, climate change will cause conditions for salmon to continue to deteriorate and that will negatively impact runs of Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead runs in the future.
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Labor Day Fires: Blazes’ Aftermath Has Researchers Looking At Fire As Driver Of Habitat Quality, Link To Fish From Headwaters To Downstream
March 11th, 2021
Oregon wildfires threatened multiple cities in summer 2020, destroyed more than 4,000 homes, filled the air with smoke for days and burned more than 1 million acres, the second highest one-year total in state history.
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New Study Identifies Mountain Snowpack Most ‘At-Risk’ From Climate Change; Cascades, Sierras, Coast
March 4th, 2021
As the planet warms, scientists expect that mountain snowpack should melt progressively earlier in the year. However, observations in the U.S. show that as temperatures have risen, snowpack melt is relatively unaffected in some regions while others can experience snowpack melt a month earlier in the year.
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Unsettling: NOAA Research Says Warming Ocean Poses Risk Of Extinction For Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook By 2060s
February 26th, 2021
NOAA Fisheries is using life-cycle modeling that projects threatened Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon will experience starkly lower survival rates during their years in the ocean in the future compared to now. Unusually warm temperatures—including a 2014-2015 marine heatwave— have depressed salmon returns to many West Coast rivers, including the Snake and Columbia.