AdaptiveManagement

The National Parks and Climate Change: The Canary in the Coal Mine

If you want to see glaciers in Glacier National Park, you had better hurry. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that within 20 years, the park will be empty of glaciers. As temperatures rise and politicians debate how to respond to climate change, the national parks already seem to be feeling the effects. At hearings in April, Jonathan Jarvis, the Obama administration's nominee as director of the National Park Service, called the national parks "the proverbial canary in the coal mine." He noted that the parks are both largely undisturbed and closely monitored, so the effects of the changing ...

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