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Climate change is no longer a threat; it's a reality. A rapidly changing climate is already transforming ecosystems and the processes that sustain them; greater changes lie in front of us. Climate change will change physical relationships (e.g. the baseflow in streams from a given amount of rainfall). Climate change will change biological relationships (e.g. insect outbreak controls and cycles). Climate change will change human needs and values. In particular people will increasingly look to natural habitats for protection from extreme events-droughts, floods, debris flows, and wildfire, for example. We are seeing these needs already in forests around the country. The mountain pine beetle outbreaks - triggered by a deadly combination of drought and warming temperatures - resulting in severe forest die back and increased fire risk across tens of millions of acres is only the most dramatic current example, and many more such events are likely. Forest managers need to respond now in several ways. First, just as the best response to sea level rise may be not to build houses and hotels in areas that will be flooded, so forest managers need to determine what to stop doing-how to avoid investing in practices and places that will not be viable in the future. Second, we need to develop tools and ways of working together that span land ownerships, ensure maximal learning from one another, and achieve results at landscape and larger scales. Finally, we need to ensure that all levels of society, including urban constituencies and political leaders, understand the benefits that ecosystems can offer for climate adaptation, which requires forest managers to demonstrate and document those benefits. This webinar was hosted by The Nature Conservancy's climate change adaption team and the Fire Learning Network.

Media Record Details

May 12, 2011
Frank Lowenstein

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Fire & Climate

NRFSN number: 14123
FRAMES RCS number: 15443
Record updated: