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10ENVIRONMENTWILDLIFETuesdaySeptember162014FortSmithHealthSocialServicesAuthoritySTARTSONSEPTEMBER292014From1000am1130amdailyatCommunityCounsellingServicesattheFortSmithHealthCentreTHEADULTMATRIXOutpatientAddictionsTreatmentProgramThisprogramisofferedtoaccommodatethosewhowishtoreceivelocalsupportwithaddictions.Itisopentoanyonedealingwithanaddictionorwantingtomaintaintheirsobriety.ThisFREEprogramis10weeksinlengthwithdaily1.5hoursessionsandbi-weeklyone-to-onesessionswithacounsellor.CALL867872-6310tobookanintakeappointmentClimateforecastsforNorthernbirdsalarmingstudyByMEAGANWOHLBERGSeveralNorthernbirdscouldfacethethreatofextinctionbytheendofthecenturyduetomajorclimaticchangestotheirsummerandwinteringgroundsaccordingtoanewstudyonbirdsandclimatechange.AreportreleasedbytheAudubonSoci-etylastweekindicatesthatthemajorityofthebirdsstudiedwilllosemorethan50percentoftheircurrentclimaticrangeby2080.Ofthose50arebirdswhoserangeincludestheNWT.AccordingtothestudynearlyallofthemwilllosethemajorityoftheirNorthernsummerbreedingrangewithsomelosing100percent.Almosthalfwilllosemorethan50percentoftheirwinteringgroundsdownsouthaswell.CanadasNorthwillbeimpactedbyclimatechangemorethananyotherecosystemsaidStephenHazellinterimdirectorforNatureCanadaapartneroftheU.S.-basedAudu-bonSociety.SothechangesaregoingtobeprettydramaticintheNorth...TheresallsortsofchangesthatwecanexpectforbirdsthatmigratetotheNWT.Amongthebirdsexpectedtobemostheav-ilyimpactedbyshrinkingclimaticregionsintheNWTarethetundraswanthegreatgrayowlandthenorthernhawkowlforwhichtheforecastisnotedbythestudyasalarm-ing.Thenorthernhawkowlisexpectedtolose100percentofitscurrentsummerrangeand77percentofitswinterrangeby2080.Allofthosespeciesareexpectedtohavefairlydramaticdeclinesintheirpopulations-becomethreatenedinotherwords-asaresultofshrinkingofavailablehabitatandalsoNorthernshiftsHazellsaid.Changesmayseenewbirdsmovefurthernorthwardastemperaturesincreasewithhigherlatitudeslikethebaldeaglethecommonloonandthered-breastednuthatch.TheruffedgrousewillpossiblynolongeroccurintheLower48bytheendofthecenturythereportstates.Itsnotlikeitsallbadnews.TherewillbesomebirdsthatatleasthavethepotentialtoexpandtheirrangeormoveNorthHazellsaid.Thatsaidnewspeciescanalsobeanomi-noussign.ThegreatgrayowlrequiresahugeterritorysoifyouhavesouthernraptorsmovinginbecausetheclimateismakingiteasierforthemtodosotherecanbecompetitivepressuresthereHazellsaid.Basedoninternationallyacceptedcli-matemodelsscientistswereabletoover-lapmajortemperaturechangeswiththerangesknowntobeclimaticallysuit-ableforeachbirdinthestudy.Insomewaysclimatechangeisexpectedtohaveadirectimpactonbirdsthroughwarm-ingtemperatures.CertainbirdspeciesareadaptedtoacertaintemperaturerangeandifthetemperaturesarenolongerpredominantlyinthatrangethenthosebirdswillsufferorcantsurviveHa-zellsaid.Sometimesitmaybeprecipitation.Sometimesitmaybeaseasonalityissuelikemaybetheparticularinsectsthebirdsfeedoncomeoutatacertaintimeofyear...butwithachangeinclimatemaybethatspushedahead.Otherindirectspin-offsofachangingclimatelikeforestrespermafrostmeltdroughtandrisingsealevelscanallimpactbirdsandtheirhabitat.Eventhedryingofprairiewetlandsimpor-tantstagingareasformigratorybirdsyingtoandfromtheNorthhasthepotentialtoimpactthewaterfowlthatNorthernerstra-ditionallyharvestwhichhavealreadybeenchallengedbylargeindustrialexpansionoftheoilsandsintheirywayHazellsaid.Badairqualityyingoverincrediblyhugeareasoftoxictailingsponds-thiscantbegoodforthemHazellsaid.Agriculturalchangestarsandsdevelopmentordevelop-mentofsuburbs-thoseeffectswillbeaddi-tive.Likeadoublewhammy.Ultimatelyprotectingbirdsandtheirhabi-tatwillhavetocomedowntomanagingandmitigatingclimatechangeHazellsaid.Inordertogetahandleonthisforthelongtermifweretalkingaboutsevengenerationswereallyhavegottofocusonreducingourgreenhousegasemissionshesaid.Tosearchthebirdsandmapsvisithttpclimate.audubon.orgPhotoMarcelHolyoakTheNorthernsummerrangefortundraswansisexpectdtodecreaseby45percentby2080whileitssouthernwinteringrangewilldeclineby61percentduetoclimatechange.PassingdownTlichotraditioninWhatiStudentsatMeziCommunitySchoolinWhaticelebratedbacktoschoolbylearninghowtopreparedryshduringCultureWeeklastweek.Thekidswentberrypickingcutwoodhadadrumdanceandwentboatingonthelakewitheldersandinstructors.PhotoscourtesyofMeziCommunitySchool