On Recent Climate Trends in Selected Salmon-Hatching Areas of British Columbia

Abstract

Trends in monthly precipitation, temperature, water equivalent of the snowpack, and streamflow are investigated for stations in three local areas in interior British Columbia of interest for hatching of salmon on the Adams River, Fraser River near Prince George, and Skeena River near Babine Lake. In general, since the 1960s, cold season (October and January) precipitation has been decreasing, temperatures have been rising, snow water equivalents have been diminishing, and streamflows have been going down. However, the results may not necessarily be part of a global warming but may rather be an amplification of the common Pacific/North American pattern.