Critical Issues
Global Climate Change
The cause of global climate change continues to spark heated debate among scientists, politicians and others. However, it appears that the present increase in global temperature, approximately 1°F in the last century, is caused by a combination of natural and anthropogenic (or human-caused) factors. And global climate change will most likely continue. Scientists predict that the average global surface temperature could rise 1-4.5 °F in the next fifty years, and 2.2 - 10 degrees in the next century, although with significant regional variation.
The effects of these changes are particularly noticeable in national parks because
of their location and unique, protected resources. So what is the National Park Service
doing to address this issue? The Park Service, with support of the U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency is helping parks become more "climate friendly" though the
Climate Friendly Parks Initiative. The Department of the Interior has also partnered with the Department of Energy (DOE) so parks can use DOE programs designed to provide technical assistance and financial resources to federal agencies interested in establishing on-site energy and water conservation and renewable energy projects.
Changing temperatures will have many repercussions for our planet, such as sea-level rise. Even a minor increase in sea level will have drastic effects on coastal environments. And a moderate increase in sea level may lead to the gradual extinction of many coastal environments and species. The National Park Service and the United States Geological Survey are currently developing Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) maps for coastal parks to identify coastal areas sensitive to sea-level rise, and allow managers to take precautions necessary for their protection.
Monitoring glaciers helps scientists determine whether climate change is regional or global. Glaciers also provide habitat for many species. For example, new species of ice worms have been discovered in North Cascades National Park during recent glacial studies. However, the majority of the glaciers studied in the Upper Skagit River Basin in North Cascades shrank between 1958 and 1998. And at Glacier National Park, there has been a 73% reduction in the area of the park covered by glaciers between 1850 and 1993. The larger glaciers are approximately one-third the size they were in 1850 and many smaller glaciers have disappeared.
Recent studies indicate that caves contain valuable data that are relevant to global climate change. Pack rat middens in Grand Canyon caves that yielded pollen as old as 4000 years are an example. This find was important because pollen characteristics are like records of climatic cycles. See the National Park Service Cave and Karst Program website for further examples.