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The landscape of Rocky Mountain National
Park is the steepest in the United States. Sixty mountain
peaks over 12,000 feet high result in world-renown scenery
and provide challenges for hikers and climbers. The extreme
topography creates an amazing range of ecological zones within
a short distance, similar to the changes that would be seen
in a drive from Denver to northern Alaska.
The continental divide, which runs north
- south through the park, marks a climatic division. The western
slope, due to prevailing winds, receives more precipitation
than the eastern slope. (The town of Estes Park averages 13.1
inches of precipitation; the town or Grand Lake 19.95 inches
per year.)
Although many visitors think of the park
as "pristine", humans are having a marked impact
on its environment. Airborne pollutants from vehicles, factories,
and agricultural activity are altering soil and water chemistry.
These changes in the physical environment are in turn altering
biological communities. Inputs are most significant on the
east side where upslope winds, blowing from the communities
and agricultural areas of the Front Range, bring nitrates,
mercury, ozone, sulfates, and other compounds to the park.
Rapid development from Fort Collins to Pueblo make it likely
that these pollutants will continue to increase.
Other toxins come from far away. Research
has shown that alpine lakes are particularly vulnerable to
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as DDT. These compounds
evaporate over tropical areas, then fall out in cooler, temperate
areas, a process known as "global distillation".
Once deposited in high elevation lakes, cool temperatures
prevent POPs from regaining their gaseous state and they continue
to accumulate.
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