“The warming of the earth could potentially have more far-reaching impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat than any challenge that has come before us.” Dale Hall, Director
Read a message from the Fish and Wildlife Service Director, H. Dale Hall.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports in their “Summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report” that “(w)arming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.”
The IPCC has predicted impacts to natural systems due to climate change.
The Challenge
A basic biological fact is that species’ abundance and distribution are dynamic, relative to a variety of factors, including climate. As climate changes, the abundance and distribution of wildlife and fish will also change. However, in wildlife management, it is difficult to estimate with any degree of precision which species will be affected by environmental change, or exactly how. The Fish and Wildlife Service is monitoring our trust resources to see how they are affected by the changing climate.
Read more about the challenge of climate change.
What We're Doing
Draft Climate Change Strategic Plan and Draft 5-year
Action Plan
In general, Service programs are already addressing climate change. Read more about our actions.
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Wetland habitats may come under pressure as sea level rises due to climate change. Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana.
USFWS photo by John and Karen Hollingsworth
Climate Change Resources
U.S. Climate Change Science Program
Adaptation Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources: National Wildlife Refuges. Draft EPA document
U.S. Geological Survey
National Park Service
U.S. Forest Service Climate Change Resource Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
National Academies of Science
Environmental Protection Agency
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
The Wildlife Society
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment
USFWS Regional Forums
We are hosting a series of regional forums to help collect information on the potential effects of climate change in coastal areas, mountains, prairies and other landscapes, and to identify ways we might better prepare for managing our valuable natural resources in the coming decades.
Alaska Region Climate Change Form, February 21-23, 2007
Climate Change Effects to Fish and Wildlife Resources (GSA Auditorium, Portland, OR), February 12, 2008
Climate Change Symposium 2008 Southeast Region (Charleston, SC), May 27-29, 2008
Climate Change in the Northwest, a Tribal Perspective (Seattle Public Library), May 29-30, 2008
Northeast Climate Change Workshop (University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA), June 3-5, 2008
Columbia Basin (Boise Center on the Grove), June 24-25, 2008
Mountain - Prairie Regional Climate Change Workshop (Curtis Hotel in Denver, CO), week of July 28, 2008
Midwest Region Climate Change Academic Forum (in partnership with the Indiana University), August 2008
Climate Change in the Southwest, Workshop for Regions 2 and 8 (Tucson, AZ) Week of August 18, 2008
Workshop on Climate Change Impacts on Natural Resource Management in the Coastal Ecosystem of California, Oregon, and Washington (San Francisco, CA), January 29-30, 2009
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