Shower Heads
Shower Heads ArticlesAs climate changes, plants, animals struggle to keep up Things don’t look good – either in the short term or the midterm. Moisture deficits continue to build in significant parts of Montana, including the south-central region, where Billings needs more than 5 inches of precipitation to hit its annual average of 14.47 inches. It would take 20.71 inches to make up for shortfalls during the last five years. And scientists studying long-term ocean trends worry that colder temperatures in the tropical Pacific coinciding with warmer temperatures in the North Atlantic could mean years more of dry conditions. Then, of course, there are the hotly debated effects of man-made greenhouse gases and global warming. According to a 2000 Environmental Protection Agency report, by 2100 temperatures in Montana could increase by about 4 degrees in spring and summer and 5 degrees in fall and winter. The good news, according to EPA, is that precipitation could increase 10 percent in spring, summer and fall and 15 to 40 percent in winter. The bad news is “the ability of some plants and animals to migrate and adapt appear to be much slower than the predicted rate of climate change.” Actually EPA’s report contains a lot of bad news – more severe heat waves in the summer; more mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases; earlier snowmelts that leave lower summer water levels for irrigation, power generation, fisheries and recreation; a 15 to 30 percent reduction in forests; increased wildfires; and the decline of large alpine species unique to the region. Higher temperatures and more evaporation could increase the need for irrigation water that may not be available. More than 1 million acres are already under irrigation in Montana, according to a 1998 state report on the risks of drought. That report also said that at least 50 percent of the state’s electricity now comes from hydroelectric generators, one of the cheapest sources of power. Montana has developed tourism and recreation as an important part of its economy. If all the glaciers in Glacier Park disappear by 2030, will visitors still come? If the reservoirs start dropping, will anyone want to launch a boat or buy a fishing pole? On the other hand, will the tourist season be expanded if visitors don’t have to worry about blizzards in March and November? It’s not all negative. EPA forecasts an increase in pasture land once the forests have diminished. Tree lines could rise about 350 feet for every degree Fahrenheit of warming. Some crops may also flourish in balmier weather and longer growing seasons. “In a warmer climate, wheat yields could increase by more than a third, and changes in barley and hay yields could vary between minus-8 and plus-13 percent, depending on whether irrigation is used, leading to changes in acres farmed and production,” the EPA report said. But, at best, it’s all an educated guess.
|