A new report developed by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) recommends government action in response to climate change impacts on the Great Lakes including higher temperatures, lower water levels and changes in wildlife migration patterns. In its report titled Improving the Odds: Using Climate Change Readiness to Reduce the Impacts of Climate Change on the Great Lakes Ecosystem, the NWF concludes that being ready for and coping with the inevitable effects of climate change is emerging as the next step for Great Lakes protection.
These efforts are referred to by NWF as climate change adaptation or climate-readiness. NWF identifies the following opportunities in the report for climate-ready action.
- Taking adaptation from the planning stage to on-the-ground action. One way to act on-the-ground is via "climate-smart" restoration practices.
- Funding sources for effective adaptation and/or innovative ways to budget that allow for adaptation.
- Integrate climate change into all issues and sectors and weave it into everything we do.
- Perhaps knowledge sharing could be a role of or by the U.S. Interagency Adaptation Task Force.
According to the NWF, to provide the best possible chance of conserving Great Lakes resources in a rapidly changing climate and in the context of other stressors, it is important for managers, planners and policy makers to have the ability to both identify what we need to do differently as well as understand which strategies and activities continue to make sense from a climate adaptation perspective.
To learn more about NWF's work related to global warming concerns, visit http://www.nwf.org/.