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|a National Parks in Peril |h [electronic resource] |b The Threats of Climate Disruption |y English. |
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|a [S.l.] : |b The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization ; |a [S.l.] : |b Natural Resources Defense Council, |c 2009-10. |
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|a Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the user's responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights. |
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|a Human disruption of the climate is the greatest
threat ever to our national parks.
This report focuses primarily on 25 national
parks that we identify as having the greatest
vulnerabilities to human-caused climate change.
They face 11 different types of risks.
A loss of ice and snow is one of the most
obvious impacts of a changing climate. Glaciers
are melting in our national parks, a handful of
which contain the vast majority of the nation’s
glaciers. In many national parks, snow-covered
mountains contribute to some of the most spectacular
scenery in the nation. But higher temperatures,
less snowfall, and earlier snowmelt are already
leading to declines in mountain snowpack across the
West. With less snow, fewer visitors will be able to
see snow-capped mountains in parks. Opportunities
for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and other
winter activities in parks also will be reduced. (See
pages 7-10.)
For a summary of how losses of ice and snow,
and other impacts, are already underway in national
parks, see the next page.
Parks in the West and along the Great Lakes face
a loss of water. In the West, a changed climate will
reduce water availability, especially in the summer.
The Colorado Plateau, home to our largest concentration
of national parks, is expected to get particularly
hotter and drier. In Zion National Park, reductions
in river flows could change how the Virgin River
is continuing to shape Zion Canyon. Water levels of
the Great Lakes are likely to fall, affecting ecosystems
and recreation in Great Lakes parks. (See
pages 11-14.)
The 74 national parks on our coasts face higher
seas and stronger coastal storms. Depending on
future emissions of heat-trapping gases, seas are
expected to rise from about 2.3 feet to 3 or 4 feet by
century’s end. Nearly all of Everglades, Biscayne,
and Dry Tortugas national parks and Ellis Island
National Monument are less than that above the
current sea level. All four parks could be lost to rising
seas, representing the first-ever losses |
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|a Electronic reproduction. |c Florida International University, |d 2015. |f (dpSobek) |n Mode of access: World Wide Web. |n System requirements: Internet connectivity; Web browser software. |
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|a wildlife conservation. |
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|a dpSobek |c Sea Level Rise |
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|u http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI15050329/00001 |y Click here for full text |
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|a http://dpanther.fiu.edu/sobek/content/FI/15/05/03/29/00001/Saunders et al_2009_National Parks in Perilthm.jpg |
