Climate Change

A slight majority of Biscayne National Park visitors are worried about climate change, and about one-third believe the park already is being harmed by a warming climate, according to a survey conducted by Colorado State University researchers.

Humans are creatures of comfort, so perhaps it should not be a surprise that warming temperatures associated with climate change are altering the seasons slightly when it comes to visiting national parks, according to a study.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, like Glacier National Park, will endure hotter summers, and less snowy winters, in the coming decades due to climate change, according to projections made by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization.

In drafting a general management plan for Devils Postpile National Monument, Superintendent Deanna Dulen is keeping an eye on how climate change might impact a scenic crossroads of the High Sierra.

A new report predicts that the regime of wildfire in the Northern Rockies will change the face of Yellowstone National Park by mid-century.

Whitebark pine trees, a foundation species that grows high in the upper reaches of parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Yosemite, and Kings Canyon, is in need of Endangered Species Act protection from climate change, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In the coming year technicians will install an array of 17 remote automated stations in five national park areas in northern Alaska to help the National Park Service track climate trends.

Climate change is leading to a sizeable decrease in stream flows in the major river basins of the Southwest, declines that could impact recreation and wildlife in national parks such as Arches, Canyonlands, and Big Bend, according to an Interior Department report.

By the end of the century, possibly sooner, a hotter climate likely will wipe out Joshua trees from 90 percent of their current range, which includes Joshua Tree National Park, according to U.S. Geological Survey researchers.

As the effects of climate change intensify in the Southwest, future visits to Arches and Canyonlands national parks could coincide with more dust storms than what currently is considered usual, according to a joint study by U.S. Geological Survey and University of California scientists.

Across the National Park System many changes are expected from climate change, from more wildfires and vanishing glaciers to invasions of non-native species and flight of long-term residents. Writer/photographer Michael Lanza, concerned that today's park landscapes will change significantly by the time his young kids are his age, has been touring the park system with his family to show his children what they might miss later in life.

A promotion announced late in December, one that pairs the National Park Foundation with a massive Toyota sport utility vehicle, appears to be at odds with the foundation's stated mission and the National Park Service's approach to climate change.

They collar moose at Voyageurs National Park. And by doing this, biologists and ecologists can learn not only how the animals are coping with warming weather related to climate change, but how different land-management techniques affect them.

A new report names the 10 ecosystems in the United States whose species are most-threatened by climate change. Among the parks included in those ecosystems are Yellowstone, Everglades, and Yosemite.

What are the top issues confronting the National Park System? A slew of answers could be tacked onto that question, ranging from sprawl outside park boundaries and habitat fragmentation to pollution.

A small aquatic insect found only in five streams on the eastern flanks of Glacier National Park is facing extinction from climate change and should be given protection under the Endangered Species Act, according to two groups.

Another cold snap has shocked marine life in the Southeast, but so far the cold weather hasn't done damage reminiscent of last January, when more than a few sea turtles and manatees were killed and thousands had to be rescued from the cold waters.

Too many species, too little staff. That's the roadblock preventing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from immediately adding the wolverine to the list of species with protection under the Endangered Species Act.

A handful of shiny, new hybrid Ford Escapes will soon be tooling about the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, thanks to a grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Decades of "bleaching" events and diseases have been devastating to coral reefs surrounding national parks in the Caribbean and off South Florida, so much so that the losses are akin to "losing the Redwoods."

The country's largest lakeside stands of whitebark pine trees, at Crater Lake National Park, are being assaulted by a duo of forces that are slowly decreasing the numbers of these majestic and beneficial pines, according to a new study.

The latest of a running series of reports outlining how climate change could reshape national parks portrays economic and environmental impacts lashing at Acadia National Park and its surrounding communities. While the report's authors hope to catch the attention of Congress, they acknowledge that a groundswell of public concern might be necessary to convince politicians to act.

By the end of the century, climate change could drive typical temperatures in Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Death Valley and other national parks in California more than 7 degrees hotter than they were in the later half of the 20th century, according to a new study.

“The snow tips the balance,” remarked Doug Smith, senior wildlife biologist and leader of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, about his research findings on winter wolf predation in Yellowstone National Park.

Human-produced dust, mostly from grazing and farming, settles on mountain snowpacks in the Upper Colorado River basin and significantly reduces runoff. Eliminating this "dirty snow" phenomenon, which impacts national parks as well as the regional economy, would require a huge reduction in soil-disturbing activities.

Zion National Park, which receives quite a bit of sunshine throughout the year, is turning more of those glorious rays into energy to help reduce the park's carbon footprint.

Dr. Leigh Welling, who for some time has worked on climate change issues for the National Park Service, has been appointed to oversee the agency's Climate Change Response Program

Imagine Shenandoah National Park without its autumnal showcase of colors, or a sign along the Virginia coastline noting that the site of the Jamestown colony is offshore and under water. Both scenarios could be realized in less than a century if human-influenced climate change isn't slowed, according to a report.

Climatic changes are confronting the natural and historic resources of Grand Teton National Park, and an upcoming lecture series explores how those might alter the park's appearance.

Avian botulism has been a problem at some units of the National Park System located along the Great Lakes. Biologists working to better understand the spread of the disease are turning to loons to help with their research.