NWF Report Indicates that Global Warming Will Damage Arkansas Wildlife

FRED LOWE - fredlowe@baxterbulletin.com

The National Wildlife Federation recently sent out a report predicting the effects of global warming, and how the forecasted warmer temperatures are projected to alter Arkansas wildlife and its habitats.

Lisa Madry, a regional representative for the NWF, was particularly concerned by the potential decrease in the migration of waterfowl to the state.

The NWF report predicts extreme drought in the Prairie Porthole Region — an area where ducks breed in North and South Dakota and southern Canada. If that's the case, Madry said we "could see declines of as much as 70 percent of the duck population in the central and Mississippi flyways."

"So that's something that we are really interested in following — and are very concerned about how that would impact Arkansas," she said. "The models aren't clear if Arkansas would be a little more wet or dry, but in that (Porthole) region it's pretty clear there's going to be more drought, and that could have a huge impact on Arkansas."