Abstract

On April 20, 2007, the Washington State Legislature passed House Bill 1303 (HB 1303) which mandated the preparation of a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of climate change on the State of Washington. HB 1303 specifically requested that the Departments of Community, Trade, and Economic Development and Ecology work with the Climate Impacts Group to produce this comprehensive assessment.

This interim report identifies, based on work to date, impacts of climate change over the next 50 years on eight sectors including Hydrology, Agriculture, Salmon, Forests, Coasts, Infrastructure, Energy, and Human Health. It provides an early outlook on the direction of the study, and key findings as of December 2007. In addition, each sector has briefly addressed adaptation, and where appropriate, the CIG HB1303 sector role in PAWGs. These are preliminary results and subject to further refinement with remaining work in 2008.