Pop quiz on global warming: What place do scientists think will see the highest temperature increase over the next century?

A. Antarctica

B. Key West

C. Nebraska

Current projections say the Northern Great Plains and Upper Midwest could experience average temperature increases of 10 degrees Fahrenheit, so the answer is "C."

Most people know global warming threatens to melt ice shelves and flood coastal cities, which may give the impression that the center of the country is immune. If so, that's a false impression, said Duane Hovorka of Elmwood, a representative of the National Wildlife Federation.

"I don't think it's been explained what's going to happen in our backyard," he said.

So the Nebraska Wildlife Federation will host a public forum Tuesday night on how global warming will affect the state and its wildlife.

The federation and eight other sponsoring organizations have assembled a panel of five natural resources professionals who will talk about climate change in Nebraska. The two-hour forum also will allow time for questions from the audience.

The federation hopes the forum is well-attended by hunters and anglers because the wildlife they care about is at stake and because they have a proven conservation track record.

While the topic still generates lots of political gas, there is "unequivocal" scientific proof that the Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Some scientists still debate whether Nebraska will become wetter or drier, but most believe periods of severe drought are more likely.

As a result, the state's agricultural landscape, water resources and wildlife habitat will change, perhaps dramatically.

Rick Schneider, natural heritage program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, will be one of the panelists. He has reviewed some of the more than 900 published studies on global warming, but said few directly involved Nebraska.

Yet it's easy to draw reasonable hypotheticals based on computer models and field observations.

"It's just sort of astounding the number of things this is affecting in the natural world already," Schneider said. "You don't even have to look at the models, you can look at what's happening the past 10 or 15 years ."

For example, decreasing snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains has already affected flows in the Platte River and the fishing reservoirs that rely on them.

It's also easy to see how higher temperatures could degrade Nebraska's cold water trout streams.

Some also wonder if warming is a factor in the recent spread of invasive species like phragmites and garlic mustard, which severely out compete native vegetation in aquatic and woodland habitats.

Drought and invasive species represent a direct threat to migrating waterfowl and sandhill cranes.

Another invader, the pine bark beetle, had been kept out of Nebraska by past severe winters. But warmer winters in recent years have allowed the beetle to move into the Nebraska Panhandle, where it now threatens pine forests.

One thing the panel sponsors hope to do is instill a sense of urgency, Hovorka said. Climate change has run under the radar for most conservation groups in the state.

"We can't afford to wait another five or 10 years to decide how we're going to address the problem."

Reach Joe Duggan at 473-7239 or jduggan@journalstar.com.