To anglers across the globe, trout streams are characterized by free-flowing water that’s clear, complex, connected and, most importantly, cold.
Meanwhile, the trout that inhabit the waters, in addition to providing sustenance and recreation to millions of people, play critical roles in the health of ecosystems worldwide.
So what’s the piscatorial problem?
In the years ahead, the chilly streams that sustain Northwest Montana’s prized native fish — as well as trout habitat worldwide — are predicted to grow increasingly tepid as a result of rising global temperatures, threatening the sensitive aquatic species with “global extinction” unless more conservation studies take place at a local and planetary scale.
That’s according to a recent study published in the esteemed research journal “Science Magazine,” whose lead author, Clint Muhlfeld, works as an aquatic ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Glacier Park field office based in Glacier National Park.
LINK (via: Flathead Beacon)
