Scientists meeting in Seattle say long droughts

and more winter rain than snow could become common in the Northwest

and threaten the region's water supply, fish -- and more.

The

findings were reported at the annual meeting of the American

Association for the Advancement of Science. Edward Miles, leader of

the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington, says the

Cascade mountains are in trouble if climate projections from new

studies are accurate.

Those projections say Northwest temperatures

will increase by about 3 to 6 degrees by the 2040's, and the

Cascades snowpack will decline by 59 percent by 2050. Miles also

reported on a new University of Washington study with scientists

from the University of Colorado that examined 800 snowpack records

from 1950 to 2000 for the entire West.

Computer models and direct

observations tell the same story about the past half-century --

that about 75 percent of the West has seen declines in spring

snowpack in excess of 30 percent in low to middle elevations. He

says the Cascades have been particularly hard-hit, along with

mountain ranges in Northern California.