Climate Change Update

Climate Change Update is distributed to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees and partners by the Office of External Affairs to provide information and news related to the Service's strategic response to accelerating climate change.

IN THE NEWS

National Strategy Proposed to Respond to Climate Change’s Impacts on Fish, Wildlife, and Plants
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joins multiple partners in releasing a proposed national strategy to help decision makers and resource managers prepare for and help reduce the impacts of climate change on species, ecosystems, and the people and economies that depend on them. Learn more.

NCTC Offers Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Courses
The USFWS National Conservation Training Center will be offering several climate change vulnerability assessment courses in FY2012. The courses are designed to guide conservation and resource management practitioners in designing climate adaptation plans and are based on the Scanning the Conservation Horizon Guide to Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment. Courses will be offered March 20-22 in Fort Collins, Colo.; April 10-12 in Phoenix, Ariz.; and June 19-21 in Shepherdstown, W.V. Additional offerings will be listed soon. For more information, contact Danielle LaRock at danielle_larock@fws.gov.

USFWS Releases First Sustainability Bulletin Highlighting Agency Mitigation Efforts
The USFWS Sustainability Bulletin highlights ongoing agency activities to mitigate carbon emissions. The first bulletin focuses on activities at Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. View the bulletin here.

Safeguarding Wildlife from Climate Change Web Conference Series
The USFWS and National Wildlife Federation have developed a series of web conferences to increase communication and transfer of technical information between conservation professionals regarding the growing challenges of climate change.  Learn more.

GENERAL NEWS

Climate Adaptation Framework Addresses Vulnerability Across Conservation Reserves
An article published in the Ecological Society of America journal Ecosphere reports rapid climate change, in conjunction with other anthropogenic drivers, has the potential to cause mass species extinction. To minimize this risk, conservation reserves (such as the National Wildlife Refuge System) should be coordinated at multiple spatial scales because the climate envelopes of many species may shift rapidly across large geographic areas. Read the article here.

Dramatic Links Found Between Climate Change, Elk, Plants, and Birds
Climate change in the form of reduced snowfall in mountains is causing powerful and cascading shifts in mountainous plant and bird communities through the increased ability of elk to stay at high elevations over winter and consume plants, according to a groundbreaking study in Nature Climate Change. Learn more.

NASA Finds 2011 Ninth-Warmest Year on Record
The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA scientists. The finding continues a trend in which nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000. Learn more.

Arctic Plants Face an Uncertain Future
New research shows that a warmer climate will have quite different consequences for plant species in the Arctic. While most species are expected to lose part of their current habitat, the genetic consequences will differ markedly among species. The research results will have major impact on future conservation efforts. Learn more.

Data from End of Last Ice Age Confirm Effects of Climate Change On Oceans
The first comprehensive study of changes in the oxygenation of oceans at the end of the last Ice Age (between about 10,000 to 20,000 years ago) has implications for the future of our oceans under global warming. Learn more.

Conveying the Health Implications of Climate Change
This primer was developed to help public health professionals communicate the health implications of climate change to the public, to policy makers, and to other professionals whose work is — or will be — affected by climate change.  Learn more.

RESOURCES AND TOOLS

FWS Climate Change Strategic Plan
How do partnership efforts such as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives and the National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy fit into the Service's overall response to accelerating climate change? How is our agency reducing its carbon footprint? What is our agency doing now to reduce the impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife and plants? Learn more.

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives
By leveraging resources and strategically targeting science to inform conservation decisions and actions, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) are a network of partnerships working in unison to ensure the sustainability of America’s land, water, wildlife, and cultural resources. Learn more. LCC FAQ fact sheet

The Climate of Conservation in America: 50 Stories from 50 States
Check out the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 50-state series exploring the many ways accelerating climate change is impacting or may impact fish and wildlife across America. Learn more here.

FWS Climate Change Information Toolkit
A key part of the Service's climate change strategy is to inform FWS staff about the impacts of accelerating climate change and to engage partners and others in seeking collaborative solutions. Through shared knowledge and communication, we can work together to reduce the impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats.  Here are some resources  that can help.

Climate Change, Wildlife, and Wildlands Toolkit
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the National Park Service and with input from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, developed a kit for use when talking with the public about how climate change is affecting our nation's wildlife and public lands. Learn more. 

FWS EMPLOYEES

NCTC Climate Change Resource Library
The NCTC Climate Change Resource Library provides selected citations to peer-reviewed journal articles, documents, books, theses, presentations, and Websites on the effect of climate change on North American fish, wildlife and habitats. FWS employees can access the library from InsideFWS.

For more information on how the Service is working with others to conserve the nature of America in a changing climate, visit http://www.fws.gov/home/climatechange/.