Climate change will potentially have far-reaching impacts in the Puget Sound region, members of the Bellevue City Council were told this week. The changes could include those to water quality and supply, increased flood risks, more variability in weather patterns and changes to the state’s forest and timber economies.

Those were some of the messages delivered Monday to the Council by Dr. Philip Mote, a research scientist with the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington. Mote is the Washington State Climatologist, and offers expert information about the climate and weather to state and local decision makers.

Mote recommends that local governments take potential climate change impacts into account in their decision-making processes to be better prepared and more resilient.

Mote’s presentation was designed to provide council members with background in preparation for upcoming staff briefings in coming weeks on what actions the city is taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Bellevue has embarked on an environmental stewardship initiative, which includes an effort to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. Those efforts have included:

n Conducting a citywide tree canopy study to guide the preservation and enhancement of the city’s tree canopy;

n Conducting a greenhouse gas emissions inventory in 2007 following adoption by the City Council of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. That inventory is being use to identify emissions reductions opportunities.

n Expanding recycling efforts in city parks.