Carolina Ducks Threatened by Global Warming

 

 

Reston, VA. (June 28) If you’re a duck, you’re out of luck, especially in the Carolinas. That goes for duck hunters too. This is the conclusion of a report released today by the National Wildlife Federation and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, showing that global warming could eliminate significant duck habitat in the Atlantic Flyway, including North and South Carolina.

The Waterfowler’s Guide to Global Warming reports that ducks and geese and other migratory waterfowl face substantial population declines during this century in North America from a warmer climate and shrinking wetlands habitat caused by global warming.

“Global warming poses a basic threat to the wildlife legacy here in North and South Carolina,” said Larry Thompson, Executive Director of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation. “The ducks that call our beautiful marshes and wetlands home may soon disappear.”

In northern breeding habitats, where global warming has already gained a strong foothold, ducks and geese are responding by breeding earlier and expanding their ranges farther north, the report states. Fall hunting opportunities in North and South Carolina will also be affected as warmer winters in the northern regions enable waterfowl to remain in the area rather than flying farther south to find open water and adequate food. The $32 million spent in North Carolina on waterfowl hunting trips and equipment could well be in jeopardy along with the $14 million spent in South Carolina.

Rising sea levels prompted by global warming are expected to submerge more than 45 percent of the coastal wetlands in the Mid-Atlantic region. This will reduce the abundance of aquatic plant and animal foods fed on by canvasbacks, redheads, American black ducks, northern pintails and American wigeons. This will be even more of a problem where structures such as sea walls do not allow marshes to move inland.

The report, the first comprehensive look at how global warming’s multiple effects threaten North American waterfowl, was issued jointly by the National Wildlife Federation and 27 of its affiliated state conservation organizations. It highlights the latest scientific research of how changes in climate already are affecting waterfowl and how changes in the coming decades will likely affect breeding, migration and population of ducks, geese and other waterfowl.

Climate scientists point to carbon pollution as the primary culprit behind global warming. In the last 100 years, global temperature rose by an average of 1 degree Fahrenheit, but in places such as Alaska, the change has been more dramatic. The average temperature in Alaska has risen by 5-7 degrees Fahrenheit in the last century, and is beginning to cause problems associated with softening permafrost and erosion along the state’s coastline.

Temperatures globally are projected to rise on average by between 2-10 degrees Fahrenheit in the coming decades, primarily because of carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels that is trapping heat from being released in the atmosphere. A 1-degree Fahrenheit rate of change in temperature in 100 years is faster than any time in recorded history.

The report includes a plan of action to reduce global warming pollution and help waterfowl and other wildlife adapt to the changes already occurring. Among the recommendations:

“Solutions are at hand,” said Patty Glick, global warming specialist for the National Wildlife Federation and the report’s author. “People can change the forecast for waterfowl so their children and grandchildren can enjoy ducks and other creatures that make up our natural heritage.”

Immediate Release:  June 28, 2005

The full report and executive summary can be found at www.nwf.org/news

Contacts: 

Larry Thompson – 919-833-1923, ncwf_larry@mindspring.com

Patty Glick – 206-285-8707, glick@nwf.org