Defenders' Experts
Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge - Oregon
On their journeys downstream to the Pacific Ocean, juvenile salmon pause among the sand bars and islands in Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge's Columbia River estuary, getting accustomed to the salt water. These productive waters in Oregon provide vital food for salmon and tens of thousands of wintering and migrating geese, ducks, swans, shorebirds and raptors.
The Threat
Global warming is taking a severe toll on the cold streams that salmon need to thrive: As much as 40 percent of salmon habitat may be lost by 2090 because of increasing temperatures. As warming continues, winter runoff and flooding will become more common, decreasing salmon survival rates.
Climate change will also affect salmon behavior. According to a recent study, sockeye salmon are arriving at the Columbia River roughly six days earlier than they did half a century ago because of lower spring water flows. This change, combined with the decline in salmon survival, will affect a complex web of interactions among the refuge's wildlife.
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