Is Montana’s Climate Changing?

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I’ve been a Bozeman resident since 1993. In my 22 years here I have seen climate change. Anyone whose lived here can usually tell you that they have seen snow in every month of the year.

A few years ago we have a massive snowfall in June that brought down limbs all over town and took until October to clean them all up.

In the mid-nineties we got two feet of snow on Christmas day.

When I moved here the first five years we were experiencing a long drought. So there is little doubt that the climate does change. It could be 70 degrees with clear skies when you wake up then in the 30s with snow by afternoon.

Montana Climate Change and Water

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produces reports that support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is the main international treaty on climate change.

The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to "stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic [i.e., human-induced] interference with the climate system."

The negative effects of climate change on Montana would center primarily on water. Decreased snowpack, winter flooding, and reduced summer flows of water could have a significant effect on the quality of life in our area.

Warming waters could have an adverse effect on our native bull trout that require colder water than other fish and could have survival problems if water’s warmed too much.

Adverse climate change could also increase the amount of irrigation that’s required for farm crops increasing the competition for water sources.

High Forests in Montana

In simplest of terms trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere so anything that interferes with that process can be a problem.

Drought that slows the development of trees, disease that results in decaying trees can all reduce their efficiency of carbon removal from the atmosphere.

Farming In Montana

Increased efficiency in farm equipment operation and the reduction of stubble burning would all help to reduce the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere.

Some Final Thoughts

Is Montana’s climate changing? Yes, every hour.

Does man affect climate change or is it a natural cycle of nature? No one seems to have a positive answer for how much effect our daily lives affect our climate.

Many scientists claim that changing our use of carbon producing products or services would have a positive. Still others claim the opposite.

Not being a scientist I have no idea which camp is correct.

But I do know that unless it’s a worldwide effort our puny attempts to reduce CO2 emission will have a very minor if any effect on the planet.

I know that many people will make an effort to be more aware of their use of products or services that contribute to climate change. Until they feel pain — then they will stop.

It’s just what we do.

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