The impacts of climate change on Connecticut agriculture, infrastructure, natural resources, and public health.
Climate change assessment for the state of Connecticut, with some description of natural resource concerns.
Non-Forested Wetlands
Non-Forested Wetlands
Taxonomy Machine Name
sector_nonforested_ecosystems
Taxonomy Alias
nonforested_ecosystems
Disabled
Monitoring & Evaluation in Climate Change Adaptation Projects: Highlights for Conservation Practitioners
A brief summary of current thinking on the monitoring and evaluation of climate adaptation projects, and point readers towards additional resources.
TACCIMO - Template for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Management Options
TACCIMO contains a large catalog of peer-reviewed research on climate impacts, which is searchable according to regions and topics.
Non-native species may amplify climate change impacts for Pacific Island forests.
The direct effects of climate change on forests will be variable and strongly dependent on interactions with other disturbances, especially novel fire regimes that are expanding into new areas because of invasion by fire-prone exotic grass and shrub species, such as fountain grass and common gorse in Hawaii and guinea grass across the region. Combined with warmer and drier conditions, these invasions have the potential to alter or even eliminate native forests through conversion of forested systems to open, exotic-dominated grass and shrub lands.
Native forests in the Pacific may be vulnerable to climate change, particularly in low-lying coastal areas and high-elevation alpine areas.
Existing climate zones on high islands are generally projected to shift upslope in response to climate change. The ability of native species to adapt to shifting habitats will be affected by ecosystem discontinuity and fragmentation, as well as the survival or extinction of pollinators and seed dispersers. Some (perhaps many) invasive plant species will have a competitive edge over native species, as they disproportionately benefit from increased carbon dioxide, disturbances from extreme weather and climate events, and an ability to invade higher elevation habitats as climates warm.
Damage from strong storms and sea-level rise may increase in Pacific islands by the end of the century.
Sea level in Hawai'i is projected to rise an additional 1-4 feet by 2100, with increases accelerating strongly after mid-century. In the most extreme scenarios, it is possible that sea level may rise by as much as 8 feet by 2100. Sea-level rise and related increases in storm surges pulsing farther inland will result in land loss in low-lying coastal areas and may result in excessive saltwater inundation of coastal forests.
Climate models generally project that El Nino-like conditions will occur more frequently under climate change in the Pacific region.
The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) causes year-to-year changes in climate, with impacts to sea level, precipitation, and storm frequency. Climate models suggest a possible doubling of these extreme events in the 21st century, with El Niño-like conditions projected to occur more frequently. After an El Niño, Hawai'i generally experiences drier conditions from January-March. A La Niña often brings wetter conditions from December-February. An El Niño phase is characterized by decreased trade wind activity, which allows warm waters to flow west to east.
During the 21st century, changes in average annual precipitation are projected to be slight, with potential increases in the southern part of the region and decreases possible in the northern Pacific.
By 2100, under a high emissions scenario, rainfall in wet areas is expected to increase (from small increases to more than 30% increases), while rainfall in dry areas is expected to decrease (from small decreases to decreases of up to 60%). Future precipitation patterns are difficult to project for Hawai'i, due to its steep topography and small-scale variations in climate. Overall precipitation has been trending downward in recent decades, with the sharpest downward trends occurring on western Hawai'i island.
By mid-century, temperatures in Hawai'i are expected to rise by 1-3 degrees F. By late century, under a high emissions scenario, temperatures are expected to rise by 4-5 degrees F.
Temperatures in Hawai'i have warmed by 0.76 degrees F over the past 100 years. Periods of warming and cooling have occurred over the past century, with a statistically significant trend toward warmer temperatures. Warming is occurring at both high and low elevations, although higher elevation areas have been warming faster than lower elevations over the past 30 years. Much of the warming can be attributed to higher minimum temperatures.