Hikers, especially those who've been visiting our mountains for decades, have a front row view of climate change. Old-timers remember the Paradise Ice Caves, bigger glaciers in the North Cascades, and longer-lasting snow pack.

While that sort of evidence is anecdotal, there are plenty of documented instances of climate change impacts on the high country of the Pacific Northwest

Last month, KIRO-7 TV ran an excellent documentary, Cold Facts About our Warm Planet. They've recently made the program available online for download or as streaming video. The show examines the impacts of climate change on the environment of the Pacific Northwest. I highly recommend watching it.

It's written and directed by award-winning producer Ben Saboonchian, hosted by KIRO-7 anchor Steve Raible, photographed by Peter Frerichs and edited by Peter Gamba and Rick Woolery. The documentary ranges from the glaciers of the North Cascades to the coast of Washington. One of the opening scenes features a group of backcountry skiers at Artist Point near Mount Baker--who collectively have over 180 years of experience in the backcountry. Among the others interviewed in the documentary are North Cascades geologist Jon Riedel and U.W. Climatologist Cliff Mass. It's a well-researched and compelling program.

The impacts in our corner of the country, it turns out, are numerous: shrinking glaciers, lower snowpacks and less spring runoff to rivers and streams, reduced food sources for salmon, die-off of trees from beetle infestation, and increased risks of wildfires, to name a few.

Climate change is an important issue for hikers--certainly, it's important to everyone--but hikers are more often out in landscapes where change is most evident, or where ecosystems are more susceptible to climate fluctuation. In the September issue of Washington Trails, we ran an article on the disturbing trend of shrinking glaciers in the North Cascades.

The places we love to hike to are directly threatened by warming temperatures.

And it turns out we're all part of the problem--and the solution. According to the story, more than half of Washington state's emissions come from transportation. How can reduce that impact?

In two words, drive less. Carpool (even to your next hike--look for carpool partners here and here or carpool to your next WTA work party,). Drive a more fuel-efficient car, fill up with biodiesel, purchase green tags or use transit. Looking for a hike you can take via the bus? Check out this site.