Global Warming Endangers America's Wildlife, from Arctic to Tropics

By Larry Schweiger

Special to The Courier-Journal

News that the polar bear deserves protection under the Endangered

Species Act is a first step toward recognizing reality.

Unfortunately, the bear's decline is the tip of the iceberg, an early

sign of the dangers America's wildlife faces with global warming.

Global warming pollution is melting the polar bear's habitat out from

under it. The mighty bear is literally drowning, unable to swim

increasingly longer distances between declining sea ice and land.

Sportsmen know all too well that global warming pollution is harming

wildlife throughout America. Ambassadors to the natural world,

hunters and anglers are the first to sense and feel stress on the

very web of life.

In Minnesota, heat-stressed moose are declining. In the West,

critical snowpack that supplies cold water for trout streams and

salmon runs is declining. Unprecedented wildfires are ravaging forest

landscapes: the number of fires is up four-fold, and acres burned are

up six-fold.

As sea levels rise, coastal wetlands are being submerged. For

example, in nine areas along Florida's coast, scientists predict a

loss this century of nearly 50 percent of critical saltmarsh and 84

percent of tidal flats.

In 2006, Elkhorn and staghorn coral were the first coral species to

become threatened under the Endangered Species Act, in part because

of global warming. Warmer water from global warming is destroying

coral reefs.

As global warming pollution imperils wildlife from the tropics to the

Arctic, the 40 million Americans who hunt or fish each year are

rightly concerned that their traditional values hang in the balance.

Scientists project that in the upper Midwest, the abundance of ducks

breeding in the region could plunge as much as 70 percent due to

global warming induced drought.

A national survey (see "Survey Results" at

www.targetglobalwarming.com) found that seven out of 10 American

sportsmen are concerned the fish and wildlife populations they rely

upon will decrease significantly or disappear within the next decade.

One cause fueling those worries, the poll found, is global warming.

The upside to all of this is that Americans know that when we follow

our values we can accomplish anything. Among those alreadytaking

action on global warming are many not content to wait for politicians

to lead. They come from all walks of life.

More than 85 Christian evangelical leaders have signed a statement

urging national mandatory limits on global warming pollution.

A first-ever Tribal Lands Climate Conference - co-sponsored by the

National Wildlife Federation and Cocopah Indian Tribe - recently

gathered 150 leaders from more than 55 tribes throughout the United

States. With thousands of years of traditional knowledge, Native

Americans are crucial eyewitnesses to the on-the-ground effects of

global warming.

On a glorious sunny weekend in late September, a diverse coalition of

Montana's citizens opted to stay indoors, drafting a roadmap to

global warming solutions in big sky country.

California is moving forward with an initiative to cut global warming

pollution by 25 percent by 2020. Nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic

states signed onto the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which

promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by 10

percent by 2019.

These are examples of steps in the right direction, but we can't stop

there. Americans want a new energy future that breaks our oil

addiction, develops clean, renewable energy sources, and creates more

American jobs in the process.

We can solve this problem. To change the forecast for wildlife, we

must reduce global warming pollution. Simply stated, America's

wildlife and quality of life are at stake.

What's heartening is that the American people are far ahead of their

politicians. The American way is not to run away from a problem. We

have proven time and again that we are problem solvers. And if the

people can lead, the leaders can follow.

We have a moral responsibility to solve this problem to protect our

children's future.

Larry Schweiger is president & CEO of the National Wildlife

Federation, headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

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Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers

Working at the Crossroads of Environmental and Human Rights since 1990

PO Box 7941

Missoula Montana 59807

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posted to ClimateConcern