Last month, I wrote about a National Audubon Society report that predicted the disappearance of the common loon from Adirondack summers by as early as 2020. This month, more troubling news has come for some other Adirondack species, this time from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Photo Credit: Trout via photopin (license)

The EPA’s peer-reviewed report, Climate Change in the U.S. – Benefits of Global Action, “states that increasing stream temperatures and changes in stream flow could make eastern cold water habitats more suitable to warm-water fish species,” the Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports. In other words, brook trout, landlocked salmon, sculpins, burbot, and round whitefish populations will decline significantly, and could even disappear from the Adirondacks entirely by 2100.

Specifically, the report stated that cold-water fish habitat could decline by as much as 62% in the next 80 years, which would equate to the loss of 440,000 acres of stream habitat.

Regarding the impact of warmer temperatures on the species themselves, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise wrote, “Warmer water temperatures could reduce their size, lower their ability to reproduce, and increase their susceptibility to disease and competition from species better suited for warmer temperatures.” Although temperatures would rise above comfortable levels, it is likely that the species would make some adaptations, and would not die off immediately.

The threat that brook trout, salmon, and other varieties of fish could disappear from the Adirondacks is very real, but there are measures that can be taken to at least prolong the process. Removing barriers in streams and planting more vegetation along the banks of streams would be two good actions to start with. It is also recommended that anglers avoid areas cold-water fish retreat to during the summer.

The EPA has a plan to mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions, and if this plan is successful, it could reduce the 62% decline in cold-water fish habitats to only a 12% decline. Only time will tell if these measures are effective, or if brook trout, salmon, and other species of fish in the Adirondacks will fall victim to climate change.

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