The Hidden Facts of Climate Change |

Unintended consequences.

We always talk about them- but rarely consider the truly unintended circumstances. Like the effects of climate change.

Oh, sure, you know the drought in the West is related to this change in our climate. Where the water supply is dependent upon snow melt- and if there’s no snow, there can’t be any melt….

And, that means a bigger problem. Wild Salmon.

Years ago, I was thrilled to be involved in the preservation of the salmon life cycle. The process to treat chlorinated water in seconds for dialysis patients- rendering the chlorine harmless- turned out to be the perfect solution for the salmon who were being confronted with purified wastewater laden with chlorine. (Sorry- this publication predates the internet. The citation is here: Ackerman, R.A. and Coles J.S. Effective Reduction of Chloramine Levels in Dialysate. Dialysis & Transplantation. 11:976. 1982.)

But, this new problem for salmon is related to the fact that the water is simply not flowing full force in the rivers. So, the temperature of the river water is rising- and right now it’s about 6 C higher than normal. So, microbial populations that don’t normally survive in the colder water are opportunely infecting the salmon- which means the salmon suffer gill rot.

And, to avoid the warmer water, which the salmon don’t enjoy for their spawning, they are traveling further north. Instead of leaving the Pacific Ocean for Puget Sound (Washington) or the Columbia River (Oregon), they are heading to Alberta (Canada).

Besides the effect on Native American populations that rely on the salmon, Oregon and Washington state are taking a hit to their economies- the $ 1 billion take (each for both states) will be radically reduced. The Chinook and Sockeye variety of salmon are expected to have much lowered populations permanently.

It’s not just the adult fish that are dying off in the warmer water as they essay to reach their spawning regions. It’s the small fish that manage to get hatched that die- because warm water carries much less oxygen than colder water- and the vegetation profile of the river (upon which the salmon rely for nutrition) is changing due to the temperature.

Any more doubts about the effects of climate change?