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NASA, National Park Service Team To Offer Climate Change Podcasts

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on December 24, 2009 - 3:44am

A unique partnership between NASA and the National Park Service takes a look at various earth science issues around the National Park System.

While rising sea levels are a concern for some national parks, dropping levels of lakes are a concern for others. A unique partnership between NASA and the National Park Service examines these issues in two podcasts for your listening ease.

Earth to Sky is a "partnership between NASA's Space and Earth Science disciplines and the National Park Service. We actively foster collaborative work between the science and interpretation/education communities of NPS and NASA..."

Here's how the climate change project, which is outlined in the first podcast of the series, is explained:

How is our changing climate impacting our national park system? This is a hard question to answer, particularly considering how diverse each park, monument and protected area is.

In response to the growing concerns about the effects of global climate change on our national parks and monuments, a nationwide strategy of communication, mitigation and adaptation has been adopted for the entire national park service. This Climate Cast series is an effort to share with you the impacts being faced by your national parks and perhaps increase your understanding of this global issue.

Each episode in this series will focus on a single park or monument, and how climate change is impacting their resources. You may hear stories about the influence of climate change on a single species, such as the Florida panther or desert pupfish, or how it’s changing entire ecosystems. You may also learn about the impacts to some of our most beloved cultural and historical sites, those places that help define who we are as a nation. But more than these stories, we also hope to share how each park and monument is planning to mitigate and adapt to those changes. So sit back and enjoy the inaugural episode of Climate Cast, your connection to the science of climate change in your national parks.

There are two other podcasts up on the site: One takes a look at how mangrove stands in Everglades National Park could help the park cope with sea level rise. The second looks at the problem of a falling Lake Superior and how that impacts Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.