Protect Climate Change in the Clark Fork Community Action
Preparing for a changing climate
Climate change presents an uncertain future-- with potentially high costs-- for Missoula County. Our economy and the high quality of life that draw and keep people here could be in jeopardy due to changes in average temperature, stream flows, and precipitation. While we cannot know the exact trajectory of change, we can prepare for the future based on a reasonable range of expected scenarios-- and we should. Preparing for climate change is similar to preparing for other potential events, such as fire or drought.
In 2011, close to 100 citizens, local experts, and decision-makers took the first steps in this direction at a two-day workshop, where they discussed how climate change could impact the community, economy, and natural systems of Missoula County.
Equipped with locally specific, science-based information on climate change, residents have a window of opportunity to take proactive measures. Workshop participants identified the top five risks to the future of Missoula County's land, water, and community, and devised a list of strategies and actions to address each risk:
Risk 1: Local Impacts from Global Climate Change: Strategies and Actions
Risk 2: Wildfire Severity Tied to Growth in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Strategies and Actions
Risk 3: Declining Snowpack and De-watering of Rivers: Strategies and Actions
Risk 4: Increased Flooding and Changes in Water Quality: Strategies and Actions
Risk 5: Declines and Disruptions in Native Fish and Wildlife: Strategies and Actions
Our interactive website
With the help of Headwaters Economics, we've created an interactive website to give you a portal into the conversations and ideas that came out of the two-day community workshop. Scroll through these pages, learn more about how community members perceive certain threats, and find out how you can tap into opportunities for proactive action to protect our quality of life in Missoula County.
This website is intended to provide qualitative insight and context for the workshop, not scientific analysis. For a description of interactive graphic methodologies, please download this Methods document.
Strategies: Working in small groups, participants recommended many strategies to decrease the vulnerability of local resources and populations to climate change. Some strategies are policy suggestions, others have to do with outreach or planning.
Economic Impacts: Participants raised a number of economic concerns related to climate change, including higher costs associated with fires, floods, or drought, higher costs of providing goods or agriculture, economic consequences of a lowered quality of life, loss of ecosystem services, and more.
Social/Cultural Impacts: Participants laid out a number of social/cultural concerns, including how changes in plant and animal communities might affect farming or tourism, how lower streamflows would affect water users, and how an increase in forest fires may lead to air pollution and public health problems.
Environmental Impacts: Participants also outlined a number of environmental concerns, including species decline, habitat loss, and decreased resilience of ecological systems.
| Community Action: ClimateWise |
 |
 |
|
Strategies to care for our community, land, and water In 2011, close to 100 citizens, local experts, and decision-makers attended a two-day ClimateWise workshop, where they discussed how climate change could impact the community, economy, and natural systems of Missoula County. Now, we've gathered their many ideas and conversations into a report and online resource. Interested in staying up-to-speed in 2012? Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to join our mailing list. Download the Missoula County Climate Change Primer to read highlights from the workshop.Visit our interactive website to explore the concerns and strategies identified by workshop participants.
Other resources:
What is ClimateWise?
The ClimateWise process was developed by the Geos Institute, a nonprofit based in Oregon. This process helps a community to brainstorm proactive measures based on the best available science to prepare for climate change, and encourages people to work in cross-sector groups to increase community cohesion. ClimateWise Steering Committee:
|
