We're told by the world's scientists that we can withstand up to two degrees warming before we have such significant ecological problems that sort of large scale human civilization becomes much more difficult past that point.

So two degrees is seen as sort of the guardrail the cliff we want to be on this side of two degrees.

We've already experienced one degree, so we have up to one more left.

And so the problem is that this century, on a business as usual trajectory, we're likely to experience 3 to 4 degrees warming.

So... that's quite a bit more than two.

We really have a decade to two decades to significantly, significantly change how we do transportation, how we produce energy... We need to do it really, really urgently, fast.

But unfortunately, we've wasted the time that we had since the late 80’s, early 90’s and now we're at a point where we just have to do it really, really quickly in order to stave off those - those worst impacts this century.

Climate change is probably predominantly caused by human action.

As scary as that is, it's also has a beneficial side.

in the sense, that means that then we can change our behavior to do something about it... both individually and collectively.

That it's not out of our control, out of our hands.

It's not just something that's - that's beyond us, even though it's a big, complicated, multifaceted problem that stretches the globe, it is something that we're causing.

Therefore, we could help to address through changes in our behavior, our systems, our laws.

We're so happy to be able to share this information with the broader community.

It was the point of the project, you know, you never want to work on something just so it can be a report on a shelf.

We want it to be actionable information that the community can use to become more resilient, to develop policies, to help the community understand both climate impacts and why addressing climate change is so important for them in their own lives.

KARA: Our team decided to research five impact areas temperature, precipitation, snowfall, streamflow, and wildfires.

And what we found when we started digging into the research was that temperature really is at the heart of all of those impact areas.

And as our temperatures are expected to increase over time, we expect our summers to be drier with more rainfall in the winter and possibly in the spring and fall.

And we also expect to see wildfire intensity increase over time.

So that means longer, more intense wildfire seasons, and with that comes smoke for our region.

LEVI: I mean, one of the things that really draws me to this region is the natural beauty.

Things are shifting enough, where days we were going to the lake, and to the river... We're now inside with all the windows closed, playing board games or something for weeks or months, depending on how bad the fires get each year, which can be fun, but that's a whole different thing.

It's not the same kind of experience.

And then not everyone has board games to play.

You know, not everyone can close their windows, because it's too hot.

So you just sort of think about the suffering related to that, too... and that doesn’t feel good.

NICOLE: So when you look at the neighborhoods around Spokane, you have a lot of beautiful homes They have older architecture.

And so that means they're not as well insulated.

They might have issues that have been raging for many years that haven't been addressed until SNAP has a chance to go in and take care of those issues.

Whether it’s insulation or fixing a roof or sealing those areas that would normally have smoke that's been increasing in our region, really getting inside.

At SNAP we live by our values of community, respect and justice.

And personally, I see a lot of injustice in people who are left behind when these extreme temperatures happen and maybe don't have the means to adjust for what they need to make it livable.

We're really honored to have that chance to go into these homes and fix this inequity so that everybody can be comfortable and not have to worry that the next heat wave is going to be something that could be deadly or catastrophic to them.

DR MATTHEW: You know, the scope of the impact, whether it's extreme heat or changes in air quality or changes - the one that worries so many people is changes in vector-borne disease.

You know, it's been overshadowed a little bit by the pandemic.

I think we clearly understand that there will be no more significant public health opportunity in the 21st century than us all working together to tackle climate change.

We know that in urban environments, areas with less resources, less green space - are called urban heat islands.

They're called urban heat islands for a reason.

Those temperatures in those areas can be 5-10 degrees F above temperatures in other parts of cities.

Clear data now helps us to understand that those areas tend to be in economically disadvantaged parts of our communities.

We know from epidemiologic data that the risk across populations is there.

We know that air pollution already kills more people worldwide than tobacco smoke.

And so we - we have within our communities here in Spokane, a population of people that is being put at risk by the consequences of climate change and global warming.

And we have an opportunity as a community to step up, to invest in green space, to care for everyone in our community.

MAGGIE: What the Lands Council is doing in partnership with the city and other community organizations is starting up a program called SpoCanopy and this program will work to invest in those communities that have been historically oppressed, planting trees where the community sees that they need to be.

These trees will provide shade, lower heating and cooling costs, and we're excited to push forward that vision for the future, where no matter what neighborhood you live in, in Spokane, you can have a safe and healthy environment.

REBECCA: When we consider the findings of the temperature group, as far as how much warmer it will be in the summer and also the considerations about wildfire smoke being more likely to happen in Spokane.

Then we get really concerned about the impacts that those combined things can have on communities that are under-resourced for people who live outdoors, for people who work outdoors, for children and athletes who want to play outdoors in the summertime... then it becomes an issue of who has the opportunity to earn a living, who has the opportunity to be safe.

So we really have to be planning about how do we reduce risk and how are we going to prepare so that we keep everyone safe.

BETSY: Well, temperature increases really concern me.

We just had a heat wave and it came on quicker than what it normally does.

It was an eye opening time for a lot of people about how the environment impacts us all these young people got it early.

They are aware they're engaged.

My grandkids have talked to me about stuff that I didn't think about or address until I was much later in my adult life, but it has been normalized for them, you know, protect Mother Earth.

ROSIE: I've really seen this passion from young people who care so much about the environment and climate change and really want to take action to help protect our environment and help solve this crisis that we're currently in.

One of our goals is to incorporate more climate curriculum into Spokane Public Schools.

I have been looking into, like, switching to an electric bus fleet, getting rid of plastic utensils, but it's been hard during the pandemic, so that'll be something we can tackle in the future.

But, yeah... Just bringing a light to climate change issues and things like that.

As young people, we are more powerful together and our voices do deserve to be heard by those in power.

GROUP CHANTING: “Climate Action Now” BRIAN: One of the things we've been able to discover in this process of the Spokane Climate Project, is understanding what the likely projected impacts are.

That at this higher emissions scenario, this business-as-usual scenario... and ... and it's not exciting.

It’s - it’s dire.

One of the difficult problems of climate change is that it is this slow motion unfolding disaster.

It makes it hard.

Humans like all species, are better equipped to deal with existential threats that are immediately in front of them.

Like there's a - there's a tiger.

Oh, dear.

I need to run like hell.

This idea of a slow motion one is not something that we've ever had to confront before.

And it's it's hard.

Our economic and political cycles are short and our attention span is short.

We live in days and months and years, but a molecule of carbon dioxide lasts in the atmosphere for on average a century.

So... some of the warming we’re experiencing today was put there by our grandparents, And some of the carbon we put there today will be experienced by our grandchildren.

And that that makes it a hard thing to wrap our heads around.

LEVI: It's easier to absorb these kinds of conversations or these kinds of issues, even as overwhelming as they might seem, if we can sort of ground them and frame them in the context of our lives, our friends, our neighbors share a reality and then be willing to to really do something.

MIKE: I grew up in Portland, Oregon, skiing on Mount Hood.

Moving to Spokane sixteen years ago, started spending time on Mount Spokane We made a home up here 10 years ago.

I've noticed the rapidness of change in terms of a shorter season.

You know, we melt out, I think, significantly earlier than we used to when I first came up here.

We become a summer season a lot faster than we used to.

GUY: We have to make decisions based on climate change, warmer temperatures, less water impacts, what trees, what plants will grow on at any given acre.

My name's Guy Gifford, I'm the Northeast region Fire Wise Fire Adapted Community Coordinator for Department of Natural Resources.

In a nutshell, my job is to prevent bad things happening on people’s property Ideally, you have 30 feet between here and the woods because when these trees go up...

The key thing for homeowners and landowners, is they also need to be part of the solution.

They need to take the initiative, talk to the natural resource professionals to learn more about what they can do to their property and how they can help it.

It used to be, when I first started, a home loss was rare... it was a significant event.

Nowadays, it is expected that we'll lose a structure, a home, every year now.

MIKE: This unit right there, is for sale because of the insurance increase.

It's caused people to sell units and that's ... financially not sustainable.

We have good friends that have sold because they’d rather go to - make a trip to Japan and go ski there!

You know what?

For the cost of having our condo for six weeks a year, the opportunity cost to do something like that... is equal.

BRIAN: Unless you're at the very highest peaks, you won't be doing much winter recreation.

The climate models, they look at it in terms of snow water equivalent.

So, if you took a pack of snow and then you melted it down into the water, that’s - that’s the snow water equivalent.

What we find is that there’s likely to be Strangely, a little bit... maybe a little bit more precipitation in the winter.

It's more likely that that will fall as rain rather than snow.

So it doesn't mean we won't have snow.

We will, right.

It's changes in the averages and changes in the trends.

and that has effects on the ecosystems and agriculture, because we have an earlier Spring, faster melt.

And so it's not available later in the summer when, you know, farmers who use irrigation would want to be able to have access to that water.

That'll probably change the crops that we have to grow.

and so that’ll be a significant impact on our region.

KARA: I think if we put our minds to it...

I think we'll be okay.

But we have to first recognize that there's a problem and that there are ways that we can address that problem today.

How we manage our natural resources,which are limited and how we make decisions to protect our environment into the future.

When we think about that in normal, everyday life, everybody’s downstream from someone.

How are we managing that water for those communities?

And in Spokane, the Spokane Tribe is downstream.

So when you think about the Spokane Tribal community and their efforts to reintroduce salmon and other native fish to our region, we have a responsibility to manage that resource wisely, just like we hope the communities upstream from us are doing the same.

CAROL: The fisheries truck just pulled in.

It has 51 amazing healthy salmon in it that are about to go into the watershed First time in 111 years that salmon have been here.

It's just such an amazing welcome back moment and speaks so strongly to the hope for the future that we have.

CONOR: Those fish have been in the truck for a few hours now.

We would like to get them out safely and efficiently.

To make that happen we are going to net the fish out of a truck and place them into a rubber inner tube, form that human chain and pass the fish down to those waters.

TIM: Things like this today, as well as our fisheries program and tribal members becoming educated in natural resources.

It's all about connection and it's all about healing.

When we lost salmon, as the one of our tribal leaders said earlier, you kind of lost a part of ourselves.

It's almost like when you lose a loved one and you’re - you’re hurt and you know, certain things can - can heal you.

And this is one of the things things that's going to help heal the tribe.

BRENT: I've been here for 10 years now and working on this since I started.

You just have to start small.

That's what we've done.

And here - 10 years later- we're actually putting fish back in the river... and we just hope to keep growing that.

Everything seems to need an advocate.

We have to speak for the river and we have to take care of her.

Well, I guess I’d ask people to think of the thing that you love the most, or the person that you love the most.

That is how you should treat the water.

That’s how you should treat the land is with love.

MARGO (speaking Salish): nx lx ilcutn ntx tek ...

The river gives us our way of life.

You know, each of our bands the upper, the middle, and lower bands of Spokane People are named in relationship to the salmon, and to the river.

So the reintroduction to salmon is so important for that reason.

Spokane's forgotten that it used to be a major salmon stream.

And so over the next coming years into the future, we hope to bring these fish back year after year, until they're able to reach here on their own volition.

And contribute to the ecosystem, to the river, to the landscape, and to the people.

MARGO: We have all these beautiful tributaries.

We have scientists working hard for restoration.

We have young people that are becoming biologists.

We need our young people, and use our traditional tribal knowledge to support that scientific knowledge and really fight for clean water, and fight for the salmon.

(CHEERING) BETSY: We have to wake up that it is all so connected.

Is just not those folks who want environmental justice.

It really impacts everyone and we have to just keep that in front of us.

MIKE: You know, I hope that we make good decisions.

We try to make good decisions and steward our resources and our lands well, because they're precious.

I mean, we're all in this together.

That is the only way that we're going to tackle climate change.

NICOLE: And so, I'm really hoping that we could see a Spokane where we're working on these inequities and ultimately trying to make it so it's livable for everybody.

BILL: I can't imagine how my ancestors felt ... when the salmon stopped.

They were our life.

JOHN: We lost so much as a tribe when we had to walk away from the river.

And then after Coulee was installed, we just lost the total way of life.

MONICA: We believe bringing salmon back is going to help with the healing of our people.

It's going to... bring back tradition and culture that was lost.

It's going to bring back a way of life that our ancestors once knew.

And it's going to bring families back together.

When we get the salmon back, then...

I believe healing begins.

So today, we're here along the Spokane River, which is ancestral grounds for the Spokane Tribe of Indians.

And so today, the importance or significance is that we're doing a salmon release.

For a lot of years, salmon have not been in these waters.

And so, today is that special time.

For the Spokane Tribe, one of our primary goals is to get salmon back into our waters.

And this is just that next step of achieving that.

MONICA: My knowledge about the connection between the Tribe and the salmon are stories that are passed down about what it meant and how all the men would go out... and harvest the fish and be able to take care of the community for a whole year.

My grandfather and my great aunts and uncles used to tell stories of being able to walk on the backs of the salmon.

You know, they could walk across the river...

It was - they were so thick in the waters.

So, we're hoping that someday we get to see that return.

Salmon was such a important food but it was also a means of our traditions and culture.

When Grand Coulee Dam was built, that really blocked the salmon from being able to come to this area.

So, I think of my grandfather, who was a young man the last time he was able to see salmon in the waters.

WARREN: It's a large group discipline, organization effort.

It's the Coeur d'Alene, it's the Kalispel, it's the Kootenai, it's the Colville, other Tribes... And that's why you'll see people from many different walks of life here today.

CAROL: Today, my role is to always acknowledge the Creator and provide a blessing for this - this sacred event.

And then I'll follow with a welcome.

We ask for a special blessing for the return of the salmon.

For we are a thankful people.

We thank you for this day.

JOHN: To get to this point where we're at now... for this event, has been a lot of planning.

It's been a lot of work, but it's been worth it.

BRENT: So, this effort that all these groups are putting together to bring these fish back is that first step in healing, and righting that wrong that was done and bringing the benefits back to the Tribes.

JOHN: It's pretty huge.

You know, 112 years that the salmon is getting returned back to the Spokane River.

CONOR: This release involves all five Upper Columbia Tribes.

They all used to participate and benefit historically from that resource.

And so to be there to share this cultural release was an incredible moment.

I'm getting goosebumps right now.

The people lined up from the trucks to the river.

And then just as they went into these rubber boots, and were handed, single file, down the line of people until they were ultimately released into the river.

Reestablishing a resource that was inherent to this river and this area for millennia.

MONICA: Every single person in that line had an opportunity to handle that salmon and just carry it down to the river and put it back in the water where it belongs.

It was one of the highlights of all the days of my life.

Ooh, you get that?

I got that one.

BRENT: A lot of folks might not know that the Spokane Tribe has a hatchery out on the reservation.

A lot of the techniques that are used here are what we use to raise our salmon BRENT: Phase Two implementation plan is a 20 year project.

And our long term vision for that is to actually be able to have healthy and harvestable populations of salmon back in their native waters above Chief Joe and Grand Coulee and in the Spokane River and its tributaries.

MONICA: I've been working with our DNR fisheries team and the UCUT Tribes.

They really are the ones that began with the vision of reintroducing salmon because there has to be a scientific approach to reintroducing salmon back into the waters.

So, okay, so in here... everything we raise in here is meant for reservation waters, in the lakes in the Spokane Indian Reservation, as well as on the Spokane arm of Lake Roosevelt.

These fish here will be about 2lbs each at size of release.

We have about 40,000 fish within this vessel that will go in the Spokane arm of Lake Roosevelt.

And then 5,000 of these larger ones will go on on to the reservation lakes.

BILL: I think this is 30 years now we've had our fisheries going, and now to be able to come here - This is our ancestral land.

This is where we were removed from.

To come home and bring salmon here... and put it in the water and watch him go home, watch him leave, watch him have his young ones and then come back... That is the ideal thing for all of us, not just the Sp’q’n’i, the Spokane, for everybody.

MONICA: I think that will make my ancestors proud, you know, after all, they suffered.

We were still here, fighting for these things that are so important and precious to us.

And hopefully be able to see, you know, salmon abundant in our rivers again.

JOHN: And so it’s all about hope.

Hope, that salmon recovery comes back.

Hope, that one day my children and their grandchildren will be able to once again fish.

Fish in the river.

Learning the ways of life again.