At Risk: America's National Parks

July 25, 2006 — -- Glaciers, wildlife and forests could disappear entirely from Western national parks because of what a new report by environmental advocacy groups calls the single greatest threat: global warming.

Higher temperatures could make Glacier National Park glacier-free by 2030, and Joshua trees could disappear from Joshua Tree National Park. Mountaintop animals like the furry pika and desert bighorn sheep are on track to become extinct as they run out of terrain while looking for cooler ground.

"This is an across-the-board alarm that some of our most special places are really at risk," said co-author Theo Spencer of the Natural Resources Defense Council Climate Center.

The report was released today by the National Resources Defense Council and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. It does not contain new scientific research but summarizes the latest studies into a report that is mostly bad news for America's parks.

"Our Western national parks are really our best example of America's most spectacular natural resources," Spencer said, "but the threat of global warming is going to present many challenges to the parks."

Among the findings: High temperatures and drought could eliminate entire forests in the American Southwest, including those in Mesa Verde National Park. Beaches could become vulnerable to sea-level rise and erosion in places like Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Olympic National Park. And invasive plant species are likely to spread further into Western parks, "causing environmental and economic damage."

Global average temperatures have risen by about one degree Fahrenheit over the last century, which climate scientists agree is a result of heat-trapping greenhouse gases released by burning fossil fuels. But the report notes that in the American West, temperatures have risen twice as fast.