AGRICULTURE
NATURAL RESOURCES ECONOMY
Climate change may also present a potential opportunity for agriculture with a longer growing season, though producers may be limited by water availability and limited adaptive capacity.
Oregon’s $48.5B agriculture industry (2015) is a cornerstone of the state’s economy. By mid-century in the higher emissions scenario, parts of western Oregon will see a lengthening of the growing season by about two months, and the rest of the state would see an increase of about a month. Warmth will arrive earlier in the spring and last longer in fall. Though some crops may thrive in a longer growing season, concerns about the incidence of pests and weeds, reduced crop quality, and increased irrigation demand may hamper production. Forests may experience drought stress due to lower soil moisture in the summer, and timber production can be affected.
WHY WE LOVE THE NORTHWEST
Residents of the Northwest list the inherent qualities of the natural environment among the top reasons to live in the region. The Northwest is known for clean air, abundant water, low-cost hydroelectric power, vast forests, extensive farmlands, and an array of outdoor recreation that includes hiking, boating, fishing, hunting, and skiing.
WHAT IS BEING AFFECTED IN THE NORTHWEST
CULTURAL HERITAGE
Warming and related changes in climate are already affecting aspects of the Northwest’s identity such as its natural resource economy and its cultural heritage that is deeply embedded within the natural environment. The built systems that support Northwest residents and the health of residents themselves are also already experiencing the effects of climate change. The communities on the front lines of climate change experience the first, and often the worst, effects. Frontline communities in the Northwest include tribes and Indigenous peoples, the economically disadvantaged, and those most dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Climate change affects the interrelationships between the environment and the people of the Northwest, and extreme climate events, such as those that occurred during 2015, provide a preview of what may be more commonplace under a warmer future climate (Figure 24.2). The Northwest is projected to continue to warm during all seasons under all future scenarios, although the rate of warming depends on current and future emissions. The warming trend is projected to be accentuated in certain mountain areas in late winter and spring, further exacerbating snowpack loss and increasing the risk for insect infestations and wildfires. In central Idaho and eastern Oregon and Washington, vast mountain areas have already been transformed by mountain pine beetle infestations, wildfires, or both, but the western Cascades and coastal mountain ranges have less experience with these growing threats.
Our natural resources economy sustains livelihoods.
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• irrigation shortages
• heat/drought impacts to agriculture
• coastal fisheries losses
KEY
MESSAGE 1
Our heritage and quality of life are tied to the health of the natural environment.
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• reduce recreation
• wildfire impacts
• declines in first foods
• hypoxia/harmful algal blooms
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MESSAGE 2
Our water, transportation, and energy infrastructure provides services to urban and rural communities.
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• drinking water quality concerns
• wildfire infrastructure damage
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MESSAGE 3
Our health and social systems protect and support the health and wellbeing of our communities.
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• spikes in heat illness
• record cases of infectious diseases
• increases in emergency food assistance
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MESSAGE 4
Frontline communities experience the first, and often the worst, changes of climate change.
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MESSAGE 5
OCAR 4
FOURTH CLIMATE ASSESSMENT REPORT
