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PREPARING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
There is no greater threat to both natural ecosystems and the people who depend on them than global climate change. Ecosystems are facing increased stresses that could undermine the basic ecological fabric that communities rely 
on for security and economic stability. While much attention is being focused on reducing greenhouse gas pollutants, very little is being done to help communities and ecosystems prepare for the changes that come with climate change.
Even if all greenhouse gas pollution was stopped tomorrow, the global climate would take several decades to stabilize. The changes already are underway. Now is the time for us to prepare natural ecosystems, and our communities, for the on-the-ground consequences of these looming changes.
With early climate change impacts now visible in ecosystems throughout the West, we are at a crucial stage of understanding, predicting, and responsibly responding to the effects of climate change. What we do in the next ten years to prepare will affect natural ecosystems and the fish, wildlife, and human communities that depend on them for decades to come.
The National Center recently launched its Climate Change Preparation Program to tackle this critically important issue.
* Local Communities and Ecosystems - working with the Climate Leadership Initiative at the University of Oregon in the Rogue, Umatilla, Klamath, and Upper Willamette River basins to implement basin-scale climate change preparation planning pilot projects.
Photo Credit: Steve Whitney
