Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Steve Moore
The Post and Courier

When we think of our heritage we do not usually consider climate, but our climate has impacted our history and culture in many ways. Generations have grown up hunting, fishing and enjoying our beautiful outdoors, but it is no exaggeration to say that all of that is being threatened by global warming.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts an increase in the global average surface temperature of between 3.24 degrees and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. The IPCC was awarded a Nobel Prize last year for their work, but it does not take a climate expert to know that our world is changing. As usually happens when humans alter the environment, wildlife suffers. This is going to be especially true with climate change. Plants and animals have adapted to the existing climate over millennia. Many species are not going to be able to keep up with the rapid rate of climate transformation.

Certainly we in South Carolina will notice changes. In fact, impacts are already being seen in our state. Scientists have documented changes in migrations into and out of our coastal inlets. Our Carolina hemlocks are being attacked by the wooley adelgid, abetted by warmer winters. Because of warmer summers, our upstate trout streams could well disappear in this century. No doubt there are many other changes that are too subtle to have been noticed.

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