EDITORS NOTE: A RECENT PANEL DISCUSSION BEFORE A GROUP OF NATIONAL OUTDOOR WRITERS ADDRESSED THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL WARMING, AND WHETHER IT EVEN EXISTS, ON HUNTING AND FISHING
When you talk to Doug Inkley you’ll find there is little room for debate in his mind over whether global warming is a problem. Inkley, who’s a leading biologist with the National Wildlife Federation says as much.
"The question no longer is, ‘Is climate change real?’ The question ‘what are we going to do about it?" said Inkley.
Inkley said already the polar bear has been listed as an threatened species and he believes all places on earth will eventually be impacted one way or the other.
"It’s not just a polar issue, this is an issue in our own back yards. We are going to see effects in West Virginia as well,” said Inkley.
Already that may be true in the range of the brook trout and the impact intensified sunlight is having on their temperatures.
Some have suggested the climate has been changing up and down for millions of years and species have managed to find a way to adapt. Inkley says this time things are different.
"The greenhouse gasses such as carbon-dioxide that we are putting into the atmosphere, we are doing at such a tremendous rate that the changes in the climate is changing so rapidly there’s a great concern that these species won’t be able to adapt quickly enough,” said Inkley. "Especially when you consider the other pressure we’re putting on these species like direct loss of habitat to development."
Inkley isn’t swayed by surveys that show not all of his colleagues in the science field are satisfied with his conclusions. He scoffs at the notion that climate change is anything but real, man-made, and in direct need of attention.
He supports legislation such as the "cap and trade" bill in Washington. That would create set limits on greenhouse gas emissions for each company, but would allow for the trading and selling of carbon credits as the company weans itself off fossil fuels. He believes those fuels–and the jobs their extraction creates–could be replaced by wind and solar energy.