Images

The words "5 Ways Climate Change Affects Caribou" are written in yellow with an icon of a brown caribou with large antlers in the bottom right corner.

Text reads:

"More wildfires lead to less lichen, as lichen can take decades to recover, and is an important food source for caribou in the winter."

Five ways climate change affects manatees.

Graphic created by VSFS intern, Louise Johansson

5 Ways Climate Change Affects Bats.

Graphic created by VSFS intern Louise Johansson.

The sun setting behind the Olympic Mountains from a beach on Hood Canal, Washington.  A beautiful ending of another day.

The words "5 Ways Climate Change Affects Bears" with an image of a bear.

Text reads:

"Drought can reduce the availability of important foods like berries & seeds”

"When less food is available, bears will sometimes turn to garbage bins, bird feeders, & other sources of food found near humans, leading to human-bear conflicts"

Warming temperatures and late snowfalls allow winter tick numbers to grow and overwhelm already stressed moose populations. The moose scratch at these ticks, exposing white hair and giving them a mangy and "ghostly" look.

Rising sea levels inundate coastal forests across the Northeast and Southeast coasts, drowning tree roots in salty water. The seawater kills sensitive trees, leaving behind a "ghost forest" of dead and dying timber.

Created by ORISE Fellow Ben Slyngstad.

Pacific salmon make stunning migrations, swimming hundreds of miles from the ocean up inland rivers. After using all of their energy to make this incredible journey and spawn, the salmon start to decay.

Looking downstream at Underwood Creek at Juneau Boulevard at Elm Grove, Wisconsin in early Autumn. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/040870855

A railroad crossing over the East Branch Penobscot River located at a streamgage 01029500 in Grindstone, Maine

The Tongue River flowing past red canyon walls and green fields between Tongue River Reservoir and Birney, Montana.

Mainstem of Salmon River located in Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska. Recent observations from Arctic Alaska indicate that waters draining permafrost landscapes may be susceptible to iron and carbon mobilization following thaw.

A low streamflow of 0.07 cubic feet/second (cfs) was measured at the U.S. Geological Survey Ipswich River streamgage (01102000) near Ipswich, MA on August 24, 2022. The concrete weir near the site is visible due to the low flows. The drainage area is 125 square miles. 

Five ways climate change affects reptiles.

Graphic created by VSFS intern, Louise Johansson.

Hydrologic technicians took a low flow measurement of the Byram River at Pemberwick, Connecticut (streamgage 01212500), when water levels ran low during the 2022 drought.

Coral reefs at Ofu, American Samoa, where USGS researchers are studying coral resilience to rising sea-surface temperatures, as well as the influence that submarine groundwater discharge may have on coral reef health.

Five ways climate change affects fish.

Infographic created by VSFS intern, Louise Johansson. Icons from Integration and Application Network | University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (umces.edu)

Prairie grassland flowers on the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center campus, with USGS silos pictured in the background. 

Habitat sampling at a restored reach at Underwood Creek at Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/04087088/

Aunt Betty Pond Inlet, Acadia National Park, Maine. Photo taken in the mid of summer.

Image of a western meadowlark, a grassland-dwelling bird species. Credit: USFWS, public domain