Based on feedback we are splitting the Region One Climate Change Science Digest into two versions and
targeting emails accordingly for the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Islands. FWS employees can find both
Digests and past issues on the Climate Change Sharepoint site, or send me an email. [Learning opportunities are
also now provided separately.]
Pacific Northwest Climate Change Science Digest
February, 2014 Issue
A monthly e-newsletter aimed at helping you stay connected to climate change science that is relevant and
integral to our conservation work. Do you have a new published article you would like to share? Please send it
our way. And many thanks to those who have provided material for this edition!
David Patte
Climate Change Coordinator (Senior Advisor on Ecosystem Change)
US Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region, Portland, Oregon
(503) 231-6210
Quick Links (Abstracts and Weblinks are Below)
New Report: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in Washington State (Includes PNW info as well)
Good News: Tree Rings Reveal Lack of Northwest Mega-Droughts
USDA Announces Regional Climate Hub Locations
Central Basin and Range REA
New Report: North Pacific Terrestrial Ecosystems, Habitats and Species Report
Climate Adaptation Fund RFP: Preprosals due March 14
United Indigenous Voices Address Sustainability: Climate Change and Traditional Places
New Video: The Missing Mountian Water-- Declining Precipitation also a Factor
Biodiversity/Species and Ecosystem Response
Microhabitats reduce animal's exposure to climate extremes
Body size and activity times mediate mammalian responses to climate change
Warming increases plant biomass and reduces diversity across continents, latitudes, and species migration
scenarios in experimental wetland communities
Abundance Changes and Habitat Availability Drive Species' Responses to Climate Change
Forests and Climate Change
Increased winter temperatures might impact forest ecosystems more than formerly assumed
79 Years of Monitoring Demonstrates Dramatic Forest Change
Aquatic Resources and Ecosystems/Water Resources/Hydrology
Climate Change Could Reduce Habitat for Native Trout in the Great Basin
Climate-Aquatics Blog
Coastal/Marine Ecosystems/Ocean Acidification/Sea Level Rise
Climate change spawns bigger waves
Coastal flooding by tropical cyclones and sea-level rise
California Current Systems is Vulnerable to an Increase in Ocean Acidification if Upwelling Increases
Local factors cause dramatic spikes in coastal ocean acidity
Historical comparison of competition among algae in waters around the Pacific Northwest provides more
evidence for increased ocean acidification
Reassessing regime shifts in the North Pacific: incremental climate change and commercial fishing are
necessary for explaining decadal-scale biological variability
Community composition has greater impact on the functioning of marine phytoplankton communities than
ocean acidification
Coastal Blue Carbon Opportunity Assessment for Snohomish Estuary: The Climate Benefits of Estuary
Restoration
Climate Change Journal Articles/Publications/News
Extreme El Niño events projected to occur twice as often due to greenhouse warming
Changes in heavy precipitation events and hot extremes observed
Modern Arctic temperatures unprecedented in past 44,000 years
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Battery development may extend range of electric cars
Climate and Weather Reports and Services (Multiple Entries)
Western Drought Update
List Servers and FWS Tools (Multiple Entries)
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New Report: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in Washington State
(Includes PNW info as well)
This new State of Knowledge Report, prepared by the Univ. of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group for the
Washington State Department of Ecology, summarizes:

Existing knowledge about the likely effects of climate change on Washington State and the Pacific
Northwest, with an emphasis on research since 2007;

Climate change adaptation activities underway across the state; and

Data resources available to support local adaptation efforts.
The report provides technical summaries detailing observed and projected changes for Washington’s
climate, water resources, forests, species and ecosystems, coasts and ocean, infrastructure, agriculture, and
human health in an easy-to-read summary format designed to complement the foundational literature from
which it draws. The Executive Summary and full report are attached. Copies are available
at http://cses.washington.edu/cig/reports.shtml
___________________________________________________________
Good News: Tree Rings Reveal Lack of Northwest Mega-Droughts
(From the Climate CIRCulator, February edition—click the link for more stories.) Drought is rare in the
Northwest. Even rarer is a “mega-drought” — one that lasts longer than a decade. In fact, researchers have
found that tree rings reveal that mega-droughts, which have struck other regions of the United States in the
past, have never hit this region. The severe droughts of 2011 (Texas and Oklahoma), 2012 (Central Plains)
and 2013 - 2014 (California and Oregon) have put a renewed national focus on drought and what the future
may bring. To help place recent droughts in a longer context, researchers Benjamin Cook and his colleagues
examined drought lengths and frequencies in the continental U.S. over the last millennium…. Read more
(Cook, Benjamin I., J. E. Smerdon, R. Seager, and E. R. Cook, 2014, Pan-continental droughts in North America
over the last millennium, Journal of Climate, 27, 383-397, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00100.1,
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00100.1)
___________________________________________________________
USDA Announces Regional Climate Hub Locations
On Feb 5, USDA announced that the Pacific Northwest Hub will be located at the Pacific Northwest
Research Station, Forest Service, Corvallis, Ore. covering AK, ID, OR and WA; and the Southwest Hub will be
located at the Rangeland Management Unit/Jornada Experimental Range, Agricultural Research Service, Las
Cruces, N.M. and its Southwest Sub-hub will be in Davis, Calif. covering the southwestern states including
California, Nevada and also Hawai’i.
USDA’s regional hubs will deliver information to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to help them
adapt to climate change and weather variability. The Hubs will build capacity within USDA to provide
information and guidance on technologies and risk management practices at regional and local scales. To
learn about how climate change and weather variability are affecting agriculture in your area, click on a
region of the map above. For more information on the Climate Hubs see this website.
___________________________________________________________
Central Basin and Range REA
The Central Basin and Range Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) has been completed and peer reviewed
and is now available to the public. The Central Basin and Range encompasses large areas of Nevada and
Utah and extends into California and Idaho. Climate trends and projections are included in this appendix
(launches pdf). The Great Basin LCC (GBLCC) has been asked to take leadership role in reviewing and
developing an Opportunities and Challenges Report that will help identify larger landscape conservation
issues and potential solutions that require collaboration across jurisdictions to achieve. The BLM is also
looking to the LCC’s work to help serve as a model for future REA Challenges and Opportunities reports. To
support this effort the GBLCC acquired a GIS specialist to assist with the REA review.
More Great Basin LCC news: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/more_programs/GBLCC.html
___________________________________________________________
New Report: North Pacific Terrestrial Ecosystems, Habitats and Species
Report
The report prepared by National Wildlife Federation, Climate Change Effects and Adaptation Approaches for
Terrestrial Ecosystems, Habitats, and Species, is now available. Funded by the NPLCC in 2012, this report is
the third and final report about climate change effects on marine and coastal, freshwater, and terrestrial
ecosystems in the geographic extent of the NPLCC. The reports provide a compilation of the scientific
literature for the NPLCC. A document with the combined executive summaries for the three reports is
available here. The full marine and coastal and the freshwater reports are available on the NPLCC website
resources page.
____________________________________________________________
Climate Adaptation Fund RFP: Preprosals due March 14
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s North America Program has announced the next round of grantmaking
through the Climate Adaptation Fund, a project supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Wondering if your project is a good fit? Learn more through the Guidance Document designed to assist
potential applicants in both understanding the programmatic priorities of the Climate Adaptation Fund and
in determining the key elements of a strong proposal. This is a highly competitive program and you’ll want
to also learn more about grants awarded through the Climate Adaptation Fund in 2012
Webinar: Learn about the WCS Climate Adaptation Fund's 2014 RFP, Tuesday, February
11, 2014, 11:00-noon (Pacific Time) Staff will discuss a few new aspects of the Adaptation
Fund grants program for the 2014 funding cycle, walk listeners through the application
process, and offer advice for applicants on how to write a successful grant proposal.
Link: https://nethope.webex.com/nethope/j.php?ED=200603472&UID=1343511312&PW=NNWU2Njg2NmMx&RT=MiM2
2. If requested, enter your name and email address. 3. If a password is required, enter:
“Long0211” 4. Click "Join”. Teleconference: 1-866-3864210 ; conference code: 678 383
5016
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United Indigenous Voices Address Sustainability: Climate Change and
Traditional Places
Symposium: First Stewards Symposium July 21-23, Washington, DC. First Stewards will hold their 2nd
annual symposium at the National Museum of the American Indian. This year's theme is "United Indigenous
Voices Address Sustainability: Climate Change and Traditional Places". This annual event aims to bring
together coastal indigenous tribal elders, leaders, scientists, witnesses, and other scientists and policy
leaders from around the nation to discuss traditional ecological knowledge and what it can teach us about
past, present, and future adaptation to climate change. Regional panels of tribal leaders and tribal and
Western scientists will examine how native people and their cultures have adapted to climate change for
hundreds to thousands of years, and what their future — and that of the nation — may hold as the impacts
of climate change continue.
www.firststewards.org/
___________________________________________________________
New Video: The Missing Mountian Water-- Declining Precipitation also a
Factor
This presentation by Charlie Luce, US Forest Service, on Jan 28, 2014 analyzed trends in Pacific Northwest
streamflow timing and volume: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9nvWPI3_RM
Snowpack declines have been attributed to increased temperatures because
trends in precipitation at lower elevation stations were negligible. However,
researchers now suggest that the lack of long-term precipitation data from
mountains severely limits our understanding of historical trends and the
empirical framework needed for understanding impacts of climate variability and change. New research
presented here (and recently published) demonstrates that observed streamflow declines likely are also
associated with declines in mountain precipitation, revealing previously unexplored differential trends.
___________________________________________________________
Biodiversity/Species and Ecosystem Response-- Journal Articles & Other
Publications
[FWS Employees- Click here for the entire FWS R1 Sharepoint CC Species/Ecosystems Response Library]
Microhabitats reduce animal's exposure to climate extremes: Microhabitats have extraordinary potential
to buffer climate and likely reduce mortality during extreme climate events. This research on frogs and
lizards suggests that predicted changes in distribution due to mortality and habitat shifts that are derived
from macroclimatic samples and that assume uniform changes in microclimates relative to macroclimates
may be overly pessimistic. Nevertheless, even nonuniform temperature increases within buffered
microhabitats would still threaten the species studied in this research. (Scheffers, B. R., Edwards, D. P.,
Diesmos, A., Williams, S. E. and Evans, T. A. (2014), Microhabitats reduce animal's exposure to climate
extremes. Global Change Biology, 20: 495–503. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12439)
Body size and activity times mediate mammalian responses to climate change: 140 scientific papers
containing population responses from 73 North American mammal species where used for this analysis. The
studies examined seven different responses to climate change by individual mammal species: local
extinctions of species known as extirpations, range contractions, range shifts, changes in abundance,
seasonal responses, body size and genetic diversity. The analysis showed only 52% of the mammal species
responded as expected to climate change, while 7% responded the opposite of expectations and the
remaining 41% had no detectable response. The two main traits tied to climate change responses were large
mammal body size and restricted times during a 24-hour day when particular mammal species are active.
While body size was by far the best predictor for response to climate change -- almost all of the largest
mammals responded negatively -- the new study also showed that mammals active only during the day or
only at night were twice as likely to respond to climate change as mammals that had flexible activity times.
(Christy M. McCain, Sarah R. B. King. Body size and activity times mediate mammalian responses to climate
change. Global Change Biology, 2014; DOI:10.1111/gcb.12499)
Warming increases plant biomass and reduces diversity across continents, latitudes, and species migration
scenarios in experimental wetland communities: Atmospheric warming may influence plant productivity
and diversity and induce poleward migration of species, altering communities across latitudes. Complicating
the picture is that communities from different continents deviate in evolutionary histories, which may
modify responses to warming and migration. We used experimental wetland plant communities grown from
seed banks as model systems to determine whether effects of warming on biomass production and species
richness are consistent across continents, latitudes, and migration scenarios. (ldwin, A. H., Jensen, K. and
Schönfeldt, M. (2014), Warming increases plant biomass and reduces diversity across continents, latitudes,
and species migration scenarios in experimental wetland communities. Global Change Biology, 20: 835–850.
doi: 10.1111/gcb.12378)
Abundance Changes and Habitat Availability Drive Species' Responses to Climate Change: Stable
population trends are a prerequisite for species’ range expansion, according to new research. (Mair, L., Hill,
J. K., Fox, R., Botham, M., Brereton, T. & Thomas, C. D. Abundance changes and habitat availability drive
species’ responses to climate change. Nature Climate Change, January 2014)
___________________________________________________________
Forests and Climate Change
Increased winter temperatures might impact forest ecosystems more than formerly assumed: It is well
known that increased spring temperatures cause earlier onset dates of leaf unfolding and flowering.
However, a temperature increase in winter may be associated with delayed development when species'
chilling requirements are not fulfilled. Furthermore, photosensitivity is supposed to interfere with
temperature triggers. To date, neither the relative importance nor possible interactions of these three
factors have been elucidated…. In this study, results indicate that temperature requirements and
successional strategy are linked, with climax species having higher chilling and forcing requirements than
pioneer species. Temperature requirements of invasive species closely matched those of native species,
suggesting that high phenological concordance is a prerequisite for successful establishment. Lack of chilling
not only led to a considerable delay in budburst but also caused substantial changes in the chronological
order of species' budburst. The results reveal that increased winter temperatures might impact forest
ecosystems more than formerly assumed. Species with lower chilling requirements, such as pioneer or
invasive species, might profit from warming winters, if late spring frost events would in parallel occur earlier.
(Laube, J., Sparks, T. H., Estrella, N., Höfler, J., Ankerst, D. P. and Menzel, A. (2014), Chilling outweighs
photoperiod in preventing precocious spring development. Global Change Biology, 20: 170–182. doi:
10.1111/gcb.12360)
79 Years of Monitoring Demonstrates Dramatic Forest Change: Long-term changes to forests affect
biodiversity and how future fires burn. A team of scientists found dramatic differences in forests today
compared to historic conditions prior to logging and fire suppression. (Knapp, Eric E.; Skinner, Carl N.; North,
Malcolm P.; Estes, Becky L. Long-term overstory and understory change following logging and fire exclusion
in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 310: 903%u2013914)
________________________________________________________
Aquatic Resources and Ecosystems/Water Resources/Hydrology
[FWS Employees- Click here for the entire FWS R1 SharePoint C.C. Water Resources Library]
Climate Change Could Reduce Habitat for Native Trout in the Great Basin (USGS-FRESC): Similar elevation
limits were identified for both native and non-native Great Basin trout, suggesting there is little opportunity
for native fish to find refuge from non-natives. Temperature was a major factor in defining habitat, so even
slight shifts in stream conditions caused by climate or human influence could substantially reduce habitat for
trout in this area. [Abs] [Citation] Contact: Jason Dunham, 541-750-0990, jdunham@usgs.gov
Climate-Aquatics Blog #51: Part 10, Mechanisms of change in fish populations: Extinction; #50: Part 9,
Mechanisms of change in fish populations: Evolutionary responses (Dan Isaak, USFS RMRS)
___________________________________________________________
Coastal/Marine Ecosystems/Ocean Acidification
[FWS Employees- Click here for the entire FWS R1 SharePoint CC Coastal Library]
Climate change spawns bigger waves: Taller ocean waves could slam coastal regions in the tropics and in
parts of the Southern Hemisphere this century, thanks to faster surface winds. Researchers developed
statistical models that use sea-level pressure data from multiple global climate model simulations to predict
changes in the height of ocean waves. The authors found that the frequency of extremely high waves that
now occur roughly once a decade could double or triple by the end of this century in some coastal regions,
including Chile (pictured) and Mexico's Baja peninsula. Surface wind speeds are affected by changing air
temperature and sea-level pressure. Rising sea levels could worsen the impacts of bigger waves, such as
coastal flooding and erosion, the authors say. (Accepted Jan 4, 2014, Xiaolan L. Wang, Yang Feng, and V. R.
Swail, Changes in global ocean wave heights as projected using multi-model CMIP5 simulations, Geophysical
Research Letters, doi: 10.1002/2013GL058650)
California Current Systems is Vulnerable to an Increase in Ocean Acidification if Upwelling Increases:
Favorable winds have increased in several coastal upwelling systems and may further increase in the future.
Although future ocean acidification will be primarily driven by the rise of atmospheric CO2, this study
investigates the additional effects of upwelling intensification on ocean acidification in the California and
Canary Current systems (CSs). Model simulations show that the volume of water undersaturated with
respect to aragonite almost triples in the California CS under a doubling of wind stress…. When combined
with rising atmospheric CO2 and increased stratification, upwelling intensification accentuates acidification
in the California CS. (Lachkar, Z. (2014), Effects of upwelling increase on ocean acidification in the California
and Canary Current systems, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, doi:10.1002/2013GL058726)
Local factors cause dramatic spikes in coastal ocean acidity: Short-term spikes in estuarine acidity have
been found to be driven by changes in temperature, water flow, biological activity and other natural factors,
and are occurring in addition to the long-term acidification taking place in Earth’s oceans as a result of
human-caused climate change (Dramatic Variability of the Carbonate System at a Temperate Coastal Ocean
Site (Beaufort, North Carolina) is Regulated by Physical and Biogeochemical Processes on Multiple
Timescales, by Zackary I. Johnson, Benjamin J. Wheeler, Sara K. Blinebry, Christina M. Carlson, Christopher S.
Ward, Dana E. Hunt. Published Dec. 17, 2013, in PLOS ONE. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0085117)
Historical comparison of competition among algae in waters around the Pacific Northwest provides more
evidence for increased ocean acidification: As the ocean environment changes over time, a paucity of longterm data sets and historical comparisons limits the exploration of community dynamics over time in natural
systems. Here, researchers used a long-term experimental data set to present evidence for a reversal of
competitive dominance within a group of crustose coralline algae from the 1980s to present time in the
northeast Pacific Ocean. The study suggests that increased ocean acidification caused by global climate
change is altering biodiversity. (S. J. McCoy and C. A. Pfister. Article first published online: 14 JAN 2014 in
Ecology letters. DOI:10.1111/ele.12247)
Reassessing regime shifts in the North Pacific: incremental climate change and commercial fishing are
necessary for explaining decadal-scale biological variability: In areas of the North Pacific that are largely
free of overfishing, climate regime shifts – abrupt changes in modes of low-frequency climate variability –
are seen as the dominant drivers of decadal-scale ecological variability…. However these findings suggest
that, even in the absence of overfishing and in areas strongly influenced by internal climate variability,
climate regime shift effects can only be understood in the context of other ecosystem perturbations (such as
commercial fishery catches). (Litzow, M. A., Mueter, F. J. and Hobday, A. J. (2014), Reassessing regime shifts
in the North Pacific: incremental climate change and commercial fishing are necessary for explaining
decadal-scale biological variability. Global Change Biology, 20: 38–50. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12373)
Community composition has greater impact on the functioning of marine phytoplankton communities
than ocean acidification: Ecosystem functioning is simultaneously affected by changes in community
composition and environmental change such as increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and
subsequent ocean acidification. However, it largely remains uncertain how the effects of these factors
compare to each other.… This study highlights the relevance of initial community composition, which
strongly drives the functional outcome, when assessing impacts of climate change on ecosystem
functioning. In particular, the increase in phytoplankton biomass driven by the gain of larger sized diatoms in
response to elevated CO2 potentially has strong implications for nutrient cycling and carbon export in future
oceans. (Eggers, S. L., Lewandowska, A. M., Barcelos e Ramos, J., Blanco-Ameijeiras, S., Gallo, F. and
Matthiessen, B. (2014), Community composition has greater impact on the functioning of marine
phytoplankton communities than ocean acidification. Global Change Biology, 20: 713–723. doi:
10.1111/gcb.12421)
Coastal Blue Carbon Opportunity Assessment for Snohomish Estuary: The Climate Benefits of Estuary
Restoration: Restore America’s Estuaries has released the findings of a groundbreaking study that confirms
the climate mitigation benefits of restoring tidal wetland habitat in the Snohomish Estuary, located within
the nation’s second largest estuary: Puget Sound. The study, the first of its kind, finds major climate
mitigation benefits from wetland restoration and provides a much needed approach for assessing carbon
fluxes for historic drained and future restored wetlands which can now be transferred and applied to other
geographies. The Study finds that currently planned and in-construction restoration projects in the
Snohomish estuary will result in at least 2.55 million tons of CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere over the
next 100-years. This is equivalent to the 1-year emissions for 500,000 average passenger cars. If plans
expanded to fully restore the Snohomish estuary, the sequestration potential jumps to 8.9 million tons of
CO2, or, in other terms, equal to the 1-year emissions of about 1.7 million passenger cars.
___________________________________________________________
Climate Change Journal Articles/Publications/News
[For FWS Employees- Click here for the entire FWS R1 SharePoint Climate Change Library]
Extreme El Niño events projected to occur twice as often due to greenhouse warming: Extreme El Niño
events cause global disruption of weather patterns and affect ecosystems and agriculture through changes
in rainfall. Model projections show that a doubling in the occurrence of such extreme episodes is caused by
increased surface warming of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, which results in the atmospheric
conditions required for these event to occur. (Cai et al., Increasing frequency of extreme El Niño events due
to greenhouse warming, Nature Climate Change 4, 111-116 (Jan 4, 2014), doi:10.1038/nclimate2100)
[Please note, while warming of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean is projected in models, it has not been
observed from 1900-present, as per Deser, C., A. S. Phillips, and M. A. Alexander (2010), Twentieth century
tropical sea surface temperature trends revisited, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L10701,
doi:10.1029/2010GL043321 and Amy Solomon and Matthew Newman (2012) Reconciling disparate
twentieth-century Indo-Pacific ocean temperature trends in the instrumental record, Nature Climate Change,
Vol 2, pp 691–699, DOI:10.1038/NCLIMATE1591]
Changes in heavy precipitation events and hot extremes observed: Observed trends in the intensity of hot
and cold extremes as well as in dry spell length and heavy precipitation intensity are often not significant at
local scales. However, using a spatially aggregated perspective, researchers demonstrate that the probability
distribution of observed local trends across the globe for the period 1960–2010 is clearly different to what
would be expected from internal variability. We detect a distinct intensification of heavy precipitation
events and hot extremes. We show that CMIP5 models generally capture the observed shift in the trend
distribution but tend to underestimate the intensification of heavy precipitation and cold extremes and
overestimate the intensification in hot extremes. Using an initial condition experiment sampling internal
variability, we demonstrate that much of the local to regional differences in trends of extremes can be
explained by internal variability, which can regionally mask or amplify the forced long-term trends for many
decades. (E. M. Fischer and R. Knutti, Detection of spatially aggregated changes in temperature and
precipitation extremes, Geophysical Research Letters, 28 December 2013Accepted Online: 4 JAN 2014,
Published Online : 24 JAN 2014 09:05PM EST, DOI : 10.1002/2013GL058499)
Modern Arctic temperatures unprecedented in past 44,000 years (Eos, Transactions American Geophysical
Union, Volume 95, Issue 3, 21 January 2014, Page: 32, Colin Schultz, Published Online : 21 JAN 2014 01:10AM
EST, DOI : 10.1002/2014EO030012)
___________________________________________________________
Public Perceptions/Communications
How warm days increase belief in global warming: Little is known about how temperature anomalies affect
people’s views about climate change. Research now shows that available information about today’s
temperature, even though less relevant than evidence of global patterns, is used to formulate opinions.
With experience of abnormal temperatures, people overestimate the frequency of similar past events and
belief in global warming increases. (Zaval et al., How warm days increase belief in global warming, Nature
Climate Change, 4, 143-147 (Jan 12, 2014) doi:10.1038/nclimate2093)
___________________________________________________________
Reducing Greenhouse Gases
Battery development may extend range of electric cars: PNNL researchers have developed a hybrid anode
made of graphite and lithium that could quadruple the lifespan of lithium-sulfur batteries. It's known that
electric vehicles could travel longer distances before needing to charge and more renewable energy could
be saved for a rainy day if lithium-sulfur batteries can just overcome a few technical hurdles. Now, a novel
design for a critical part of the battery has been shown to significantly extend
the technology's lifespan, bringing it closer to commercial use.
A "hybrid" anode developed at the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE)'s Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) could quadruple the life of lithiumsulfur batteries. Huang et al, Nature Communications, 01/10/2014, published
a paper describing the anode's design and performance.
__________________________________________________________
Climate and Weather Reports and Services
Topic of the Month: Western Drought (image from the US Drought Monitor, Feb 4)
The Office of the Washington State Climatologist issues a monthly newsletter that summarizes the WA
climate for the previous month, includes a precipitation and temperature outlook, and also includes a brief
summary of an interesting aspect of the weather or climate of WA, among a few other sections: See
www.climate.washington.edu/newsletter for copies and to join the listserv.
The latest edition features a review of the Arctic Oscillation and Pacific Northwest weather.
PNW Climate Outlook: This quarterly report from the Pacific Northwest Climate Impacts Research
Consortium (CIRC) provides a seasonal wrap up of relevant regional issues along with an outlook for the
coming season in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Western Montana. To subscribe send an email to John
Stevenson.
Great Basin Weather and Climate Dashboard: this website provides up to date climate and weather data
and forecasts/outlooks for the Great Basin including temperature, precipitation, drought, snowpack and
hydrologic information. (Some of the information includes the entire western U.S.) The Dashboard is a joint
effort amongst the Western Regional Climate Center, California and Nevada Applications Program, the USDA
Farm Service Agency and the Great Basin LCC.
NOAA Climate Connection E-Newsletter: Free monthly e-newsletter designed to increase climate literacy
and communication capacity for NOAA and its partners. Subscription requests can be sent to
NOAAClimateConnection@noaa.gov. Click here to view the June 2013 NOAA Climate Connection enewsletter.
NOAA’s State of the Climate Monthly Update
NOAA Monthly Drought Outlook: The monthly drought outlook complements the weekly drought condition
updates via the U.S. Drought Monitor. See this site.
NOAA Climate Portal: http://www.climate.gov/ National Snow and Ice Data Center: http://nsidc.org
The National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center Annual Report for 2012
____________________________________________________________
List Servers
ClimateNews-- is a snapshot from British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource
Operations, provides new and emerging climate change adaptation and mitigation activities in the natural
resource sector. Contact: katharine.mccallion@gov.bc.ca
Climate CIRCulator (Oregon Climate Change Research Institute)
Climate Impacts Group (Univ. Washington)
EPA Climate Change and Water E-Newsletter
LCC list servers (see your LCC’s website)
OneNOAA Science Webinars
North Pacific LCC Listserve – North Pacific Tidings - important news and announcements; and NPLCC Climate
Science Digest - new science/information affecting natural and cultural resources.
NCTC Climate Change List server (upcoming webinars and courses): send email danielle_larock@fws.gov
Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) (British Columbia) Climate News Scan- a weekly summary of the
major climate-change related science, technology, and policy advances of direct relevance to the BC provincial
and the Canadian federal governments and more generally to businesses and civil society
PointBlue Weekly Ecology, Climate Change and Related e-Newsletter: Send request to ecohen@prbo.org
PNW Tribal Climate Change Network: Send request to kathy@uoregon.edu
US Forest Service Fish & Wildlife Research Updates
FWS Resources and Tools
FWS Pacific Region employees can access journal articles and publications archived at the Region’s Climate
Change Sharepoint site (links below). The Region's Climate Change Science Synthesis document uses these
new findings. (The blog is used to highlight changes made to the document.)
> Home Page
> Read this report in Word/Find previous reports
> Document library (journal articles, reports, etc., updated weekly)
> Best available climate change science-- R1 synthesis (updated weekly)
> Blog (provides updates on new journal articles, R1 examples on use of climate science in decision making,
etc.)
> Use of Climate science: Regional examples
FWS Climate Change Response: 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: Natural systems and landscapes are impacted by increasing land use
pressures and widespread resource threats amplified by a rapidly changing climate. These changes are
occurring at an unprecedented pace and scale. 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
National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy: The National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants
Climate Adaptation Strategy will provide a unified approach—reflecting shared principles and science-based
practices—for reducing the negative impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, plants, habitats and
associated ecological processes across geographic scales. Learn more
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 .
Safeguarding Wildlife from Climate Change Web Conference Series: The FWS 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
(FWS employees only)
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
here
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/