SUMMARY
The
impacts will manifest themselves in a number of ways.The
snow pack will melt earlier.As a
result, maximum Spring-time streamflows
will happen about one month earlier in the calendar year.This
causes numerous water resource problems.It
also impacts the life cycle of salmon in the PNW, as well as the entire
ecosystem of the Sacramento Delta.Additional
impacts will be found in reduced ability to generate hydro electric power
in the winter and large increases in wildfire activity in the summer.
The
above results are particularly disturbing since the computer model from
which they originally spring is known to have a relatively low sensitivity
to GHGs.This means the above statements
should be considered as conservative; if anything, they are under estimates
of what will happen.