RESULTS: The stream flow problems lead to biological
problems. Due to increased warming, the salmon of the PNW will have
to delay their run upstream until the waters cool sufficiently with the
onset of Fall. But the freshet (maximum stream flow associated with
snow melt) needed to flush the young smolt out of the rivers in the Spring
of 2050 comes a month earlier than present. Essentially the reproductive
cycle of these endangered fish is compressed (lower time line arrow).
Can they adapt to this change within 50 years? If not, they will
become extinct in the PNW.
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