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• 3-4 degree temperatures increases by 2030, with more frequent and longer-lasting <br />summer heat extremes; <br />• even "[l]onger and more intense wildfire seasons" with fires "projected to claim more <br />land each year than the year before"; <br />• "Midwinter thawing and much earlier melting of snowpack" with resultant <br />"flooding," "ski season[s]" shortened by "three to six weeks," and "added stress on <br />reservoirs"; <br />• "Much lower flows in rivers in the summer months and a greater vulnerability to <br />drought with consequent impacts to the ability of "[a]lready over-used river systems" <br />to satisfy "existing water rights and future growth," degradation of water quality, and <br />a potential "decline"in "[h]ydropower production"; <br />• Slower recharge in groundwater aquifers, with an overall decline of 20% projected <br />for the Ogallala aquifer if temperatures increase by more than 5 degrees F. <br />• "Movement of plant and animal species to higher elevations and latitudes" and the <br />fragmentation of high-elevation habitat. "Many of today's high-elevation species will <br />face localized or total extinction"; <br />• "Insect attaches in forests" caused by warmer winter temperatures that will "reduce <br />winterkill of beetles," warmer summer temperatures that will "allow faster insect <br />lifecycles," and forests rendered vulnerable by "summer droughts"; <br />• "Less snow cover and more winter rain on farm lands" whereby the "[p]elting rain on <br />bare ground will increase soil erosion"; and, if that isn't enough: <br />• "More weeds." <br />Id. These impacts are obviously dramatic, and will extend across state lines, as noted by the <br />Climate Action Plan. <br />Further, recent reports indicate that global warming is having a disproportionate impact <br />on the American West and Colorado, raising temperatures here faster than the rest of the world. <br />The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council released <br />a report in March 2008 indicating that temperatures in the American West were rising 70% faster <br />than the world-wide average. The report noted: <br />APPEAL OF E SEAM METHANE DRAINAGE WELLS PROJECT, APRIL 28, 2008 PAGE 5