One plausible future scenario for Missoula County includes a significant increase in year-to-year climate variability. While variability and unpredictability will affect all sectors, agriculture, recreation and tourism will find it particularly difficult to adapt to these conditions.
Explore how climate variability creates vulnerabilities in the following sectors given climate change:
Each drop down contains "vulnerability grids". These grids are visual representations of the results in the assessment as provided by the stakeholder workshop, showing the risk from climate change in that sector on a scale from less problematic --> to more problematic as well as from easier to respond to --> to harder to respond to.
AGRICULTURE.
The increasing unpredictability of the weather from month to month and year to year is likely to be one of the biggest challenges that climate change will pose to Missoula County farmers and ranchers. Less predictable weather and more variability in the timing of the first fall freeze and spring thaw will lead to more frequent crop loss due to the mismatch between crops and local conditions. There are also documented mental health impacts on farmers resulting from the challenges of climate change, in particular unpredictable weather and associated crop loss.
The full vulnerability grid for Agriculture, for all hazards, is shown below.
The full vulnerability grid for Agriculture, for all hazards, is shown below.
business, recreation, and tourism.
Increasing yearly unpredictability will have significant impacts on recreational industries like skiing and fishing, since the seasons for these activities may vary greatly from year to year. This unpredictability will increase investment risk, making it very difficult for businesses to plan, make capital improvements, and invest in employees.
The full vulnerability grid for Business, Recreation, and Tourism, for all hazards, is shown below.
The full vulnerability grid for Business, Recreation, and Tourism, for all hazards, is shown below.
