Believe it or not – it is happening.
For nearly the whole month of Sept. my wife Vickie and I have been witness to one of the world’s greatest natural phenomena, the spawning migration of salmon. From the banks of the North Thompson River, 22 feet above the water, all varieties of salmon! Pinks, Coho, Chinook, Chum, Sockeye have all been streaming up the Thompson literally past our backdoor. In our nearly half century of living on this property, I have never witnessed anything like this. Although it is encouraging to see the numbers, one wonders if this is a sign of greater change.
Today, Sept. 22, I noticed that instead of just passing on up the river, the salmon are stopping to build ruds and spawn out our back door. While some spawning has taken place in past years, certainly not in the number we are witnessing today.
So, what factors have changed to explain this phenomenon? Much lower water levels, due to a prolonged drought. Some creek and even the Clearwater River are lower and in fact some creeks have dried up completely. Water temperatures are higher than normal, possibly explaining why all salmon species seem to have come at the same time. Is this another indication the climate change is happening at an accelerated rate, not seen in the past?
To all climate change deniers, wake up and open your eyes and minds that we may meet the challenge intelligently.
Wes Morden
Blackpool, B.C. resident