Newspaper series covers warming in the Sierra

The Sacramento Bee recently published their first in a series of stories on the effects of global warming on the Sierra. This is written by Tom Knudson, who blogs for the SacBee at Sierra Summit.

Of course this issue hits very close to home for us Sierra climbers. The changing landscape dramatically affects the mountain cirques, meadows, valleys and glaciers that we tend to hold near-sacred. But taking a long hard look at the effects of warming on mountains is important for reasons that go way beyond climbers' self-interests. Since higher elevations feel the effects of global warming before the rest of the landscape, the mountains tend to act as the proverbial "canary in the coalmine." Kudos to the SacBee for helping put a global issue into local relief.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Starting today, The Bee will begin to chronicle this warming world, to explore an environmental meltdown scientists say is more far-reaching than any in recorded history.

In print and online at www.sacbee. com/sierrawarming, we will take you from the foothills to the timberline and beyond to reveal a landscape where the imprint of climate change is being detected in a surprising number of ways, from the growing rampage of unruly and destructive wildfires to the scamper of chipmunks and other species upslope toward cooler weather.

"When I started doing climate change research in the Sierra Nevada around 1990, it seemed like an abstraction," said Nathan Stephenson, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Three Rivers near Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.

Now, it's in sharp focus. "Over the last five years, the canary in the coal mine died," said Stephenson, whose research has tied a rise in tree mortality in the Sierra to rising temperatures. "It's almost a shock to find out how many things are changing and how rapidly they are changing."