Global heating will impact each ecoregion differently; in the Pacific Northwest, climate change projections show the primary impact will be to warmer winters, impacting seasonal precipitation and regional hydrology. These impacts can be organized under three main categories:
- Winter precipitation is more likely to fall as rain instead of snow, or as rain-on-snow events that shift river seasonal cycles,
- Increased frequency and severity of summer drought situations that place co-management of water in conditions of conflict; and
- Increased risk of unintentional and catastrophic wildfire, both from those close to home and far away, as smoke impacts large regions.
Revised 7/5/2023