Zion National Park Warming Faster than Most of Earth

A new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization says that Zion National Park and the Colorado river basin is warming at a faster pace than any other spot on the planet outside the arctic.  The report says that will affect snow and water levels and possibly lead to the loss of plants and wildlife in the area.  All of Utah’s national parks are in danger, though Zion faces the most immediate problems.

Warmer temperatures are melting glaciers at alarming rates, causing sea levels to rise and threatening coastal parks such as Acadia, Cape Hatteras and Everglades.  But the repercussions don’t end there.  Hotter and drier conditions, and extreme storms and flooding, put plant communities everywhere at risk.  With habitats and food sources devastated, wildlife are already struggling to survive.

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Large Trees Declining in Yosemite

Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey said there are fewer large-diameter trees growing in Yosemite National Park than in years past, most likely due to climate change.  Warmer temperatures and smaller snow packs are creating conditions that are more difficult for large trees to flourish.

“Most of the water that becomes available in the Sierra Nevada comes from the snow pack,” said Jim Lutz, University of Washington researcher who co-wrote the study.  “Higher temperatures might increase populations of insects or make fungi more aggressive … which all could increasingly contribute to tree mortality.”

When smaller snow packs collect in April and May, trees have less water to sustain them over the dry summer.  Warmer temperatures also increase the severity of wildfires that kill off trees.

The study concluded that the number of large-diameter trees in Yosemite National Park decreased by 24 percent from 1932 to 1999.  Trees in the park’s sub-alpine areas were the most severely affected.

Story at Google News
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Glaciers Disappearing Faster Than Expected in Glacier National Park

A 2003 study predicted that glaciers will disappear from Glacier National Park by 2030.  But because temperatures are warming even faster than just a few years ago, glaciers are now expected to disappear by 2020.

Glaciers are created when snow doesn’t completely melt in summer and over time is compacted into ice.  To be classified as a glacier, an ice field must be at least 25 acres, moving, and sculpting the landscape.

In 1900, there were about 150 glaciers in what is now Glacier National Park.  Today only 25 glaciers remain.

Although the quantity and size of glaciers have been decreasing over the past century, glaciers are now shrinking four times as fast as they were in the 1960s.  The reason is warmer climate.  Although Glacier National Park is colder than many other parts of the world, temperatures in the park have increased three times as fast as average global temperatures.

There may be some debate as to whether the warming climate is a natural cycle or the result of man-made pollutants.  But there is no debate that temperatures in Glacier National Park are getting warmer, the glaciers are getting smaller, and this is all happening even faster than previously predicted.

Story at USA News
Glacier National Park Photo Tour

World Faces Irreversible Climate Change

An international panel of scientists has warned that he world is facing an increasing risk of an “irreversible” climate shift because worst-case scenarios presented just a few years ago are now coming true.

Temperatures, sea levels, and acid levels in oceans and ice sheets were already moving “beyond the patterns of natural variability within which our society and economy have developed and thrived,” scientists said in a new report.  These are the conclusions from a three-day conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, where two thousand researchers gathered to discuss climate change.

“Recent observations show that societies are highly vulnerable to even modest levels of climate change, with poor nations and communities particularly at risk,” the report said.

Story at CNN
More climate stories at Earth-Save

Interview with Yosemite’s “Bear Boss”

Ryan M. Leahy is the Lead Bear Technician at California’s Yosemite National Park.  As such, it is his job to manage the balance between a healthy bear population and human safety.  Earlier this winter, amid unusually high temperatures in the Yosemite Valley, Discovery News correspondent Eric Bland sat down with Leahy to talk about the wonders of hibernation and the perils of incautious park visitors.

Discovery News: Are the temperatures this winter affecting the bears at all, or are they hibernating comfortably?

Ryan Leahy: With such warm temperatures, a number of bears never went into hibernation.  Some of the bears have been active, but we haven’t had too many issues.

DN: Why are the bears waking up?

Leahy: Winter dormancy for black bears is dependent on food availability and not much else.  Right now the ground is uncovered, and there are still a lot of live oak acorns that are a good food source for the bears, so they can continue to forage here in the Valley.

Read the interview at Discovery News

Glaciers Gone from Glacier National Park by 2020?

It’s an often-repeated statistic used by global warming proponents: the glaciers in Montana’s Glacier National Park will disappear by the year 2030.  But Daniel Fagre, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) ecologist who works at Glacier, says the park’s glaciers will disappear ten years ahead of schedule, affecting the region’s plants and animals.

The 2030 date was based on a 2003 USGS study that used 1992 temperature predictions.  “Temperature rise in our area was twice as great as what we put into the [1992] model,” Fagre said.  The 2020 estimate is based on aerial surveys and photography Fagre and his team have been conducting at Glacier since the early 1980s.

Glaciers are disappearing all over the globe.  Most glaciers have disappeared entirely from the Andes, and the Himalayas have lost a third of its snow.

Glacier melt has important ecological implications.  “A lot of our sensitive and rare plants are associated with the edges of glaciers,” Fagre said.  Retreating glaciers initially expose more growing area for plants.  But as glaciers retreat, the streams they feed can become unreliable or dry up completely, affecting plants and animals that depended on the nearly-constant supply of moisture.

Story at National Geographic

Glacier National Park Photo Tour