Ecology Priorities > Facing Climate Change > Adaptation

Impacts, Preparation, Adaptation

More Information:
Focus Sheet
Extreme high tide photos
Video of public meeting
Upcoming Winter High Tides:
A Preview of Future Sea Level Rise
More resources

Due to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) already accumulated in the atmosphere, Washington will face certain impacts to our forests, agriculture, snowpack, rivers, coastal waters and other natural resources that we so value. The extent and duration of these impacts will largely be determined by our collective success in reducing future emissions of GHGs. However, the Washington State Department of Ecology, along with other state agencies, has already started planning for the unavoidable consequences of a changing climate.

Many of these challenges we will face are similar to those we’ve been wrestling with for decades — water supply and quality, ecosystem health, air quality, shoreline and habitat protection and restoration. But the rate and severity of the changes we are likely to witness in the coming years will be unlike anything Washingtonians have ever experienced.

State agencies will continue to work in partnership with local communities to develop a statewide strategy for responding to the anticipated impacts of a changing climate. Check this website often for updated technical and scientific information about the impacts of climate change on Washington’s communities and natural resources.

A useful definition of “regional climate change” can be found in the federal climate and energy bill that recently passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives. They define regional climate change as,

“...the natural or human-induced changes manifested in the local or regional environment (including alterations in weather patterns, land productivity, water resources, sea level rise, atmospheric chemistry, biodiversity, and ecological systems) that may alter the capacity of a specific region to support current or future social and economic activity or natural ecosystems.”

Development of a Washington State Climate Change Impacts Response Strategy

This past spring, Governor Gregoire signed legislation (E2SSB 5560) that included provisions for the formation of an “integrated climate change response strategy” that would “better enable state and local agencies, public and private businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals to prepare for, address, and adapt to the impacts of climate change.”

These provisions are outlined in sections 10 through 12 of the bill. View the full copy of the signed legislation.

The legislation directs Ecology, in partnership with the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Fish and Wildlife, Natural Resources, and Transportation to develop an initial state strategy by December of 2011.

These six state agencies, along with other representatives from across state government, are currently developing a draft strategy outline and the details of a stakeholder process that will ensure we take advantage of the existing expertise in the region. Local Governments, who will be faced with many of the front-line challenges in dealing with these impacts, will be closely consulted in the development of the strategy.

A timeline has now been created for the process of developing the state strategy and the formation of Topic Advisory Groups (TAGs) that will allow for broad stakeholder participation. Public outreach will also an important component of the strategy development.

Public Meetings

The six state agencies tasked with developing the state climate change response strategy held two public meetings in November and December of 2009 to request initial feedback from the public. The meetings provided an overview of the strategy framework, provided background on the need for such a strategy for Washington State, and answered questions and gathered feedback from the public on what issues the strategy should address.

Public meeting - Lacey, Washington (Nov. 30, 2009)   51mins

Please continue to consult this website for newly released resource materials, updates on the state strategy process, and materials related to the strategy as they are developed.

Resources

Washington State / Pacific Northwest

Comprehensive Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Washington State, Climate Impacts Group (CIG), University of Washington, June 2009

• Executive Summary, Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)
• Full report, Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

Agriculture

• Assessment of climate change impact on eastern Washington agriculture - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

Economy

• Impacts of Climate Change on Washington's Economy

Forests

• Forest ecosystems, disturbance, and climatic change in Washington State - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

Habitats/Biodiversity

• Setting the Stage: Ideas for Safeguarding Washington's Fish and Wildlife in an Era of Climate Change - A National Wildlife Federation (NWF) report compiled from a recent workshop co-sponsored by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife entitled “Assessing Climate Impacts on Washington’s Fish and Wildlife.” The document highlights threats that climate change poses to the state’s natural systems and the people and wildlife that depend on them. Other workshop sponsors include the state’s Biodiversity Council, the Washington Wildlife Federation, Teaming with Wildlife, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, 2009
• Western Regional Web Portal from the National Wildlife Federation
• Freshwater Salmon Habitat - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

Human Health

• Public health impacts of climate change in Washington State: projected mortality risks due to heat events and air pollution - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

Infrastructure

• Precipitation extremes and the impacts of climate change on stormwater infrastructure in Washington State - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

Shorelands/Oceans

• Sea Level Rise in the Coastal Waters of Washington - State Joint Ecology/UW CIG Report
• West Coast Governor’s Agreement on Ocean Health
• Planning for Climate Change - Ecology’s Coastal Training Program
• Mitigating Shoreline Erosion along Sheltered Coasts - Report Summary, National Academy of Sciences
• Impacts of Climate Change on the Coasts of the Washington - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

Water Resources/Quality & Snowpack

• Anticipating Impacts in the Columbia River Basin - Ecology’s Office of the Columbia River
• Implications for Hydrology - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)
• Puget Sound water supply - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)
• Yakima Basin water supply - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

Adaptation/Preparation Planning Resources

• Preparing for Climate Change - King County/ICLEI/CIG Guidebook
• Adaptation Strategies - Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Climate Impacts Group (CIG)

Preparation and Adaptation Working Groups (PAWGs)

• Summary of Key PAWG Recommendations (source: 2008 Climate Change Interim Report)
  Additional Information:
  • Detailed Impacts Related to Human Health
  • Exotic Plants Established in Washington State Since 1985
  • PAWG References
• 2007 Draft Reports from the five PAWGs

Western U.S.

California

• California Climate Adaptation Strategy: Discussion Draft, July 2009
• Indicators of Climate Change in California - California climate change impacts report, CA EPA & Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, April 2009

National/Global

Federal Government (USA)

• Arctic Report Card 2009 - update on climate related observations of the polar atmosphere, sea ice, oceans, land, ice sheets and biology, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Strategic Plan for Climate Change - Draft documents for public comment that outline this federal agency’s five-year vision and proposed actions to conserve fish and wildlife in a changing climate, September 2009.
• Key Findings, Global Climate Change Impacts on the United States, Report from the U.S. Global Change Research Program, June 2009

European Science Foundation

• Impacts of Ocean Acidification – Science Policy Briefing, August 2009

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

• IPCC Assessment Report 4, 2007

United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

•  Climate Change Science Compendium 2009 - Summarizes recent science developments since the release of the 2007 IPCC fourth assessment, September 2009

Contact Information

Spencer Reeder
spencer.reeder@ecy.wa.gov
(360) 407-6229

Joanna Ekrem
joanna.ekrem@ecy.wa.gov
(360) 407-7144