Climate Change

As snowfall amounts change in upper parts of glaciers and temperatures rise at lower elevations glaciers are rapidly melting and receding.

Tim Karle

 

Environmental factors influence many of the things around us that we often take for granted including the weather, the climate, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the areas where we play, work, and live.

The National Park Service has been charged to preserve and protect the cultural and natural resources contained within its units. Yet, both natural and man-caused events shape these park's environments. The challenge facing the service today is to mitigate or prevent man-made degradation while allowing natural processes to shape the environmental were charged with protecting..

 

Today one of the main challenges to park resources is climate change. Climate change is a significant change in distribution of weather over long periods. These changes can be fast, but the full response to the forcing mechanisms might not be fully developed for many decades or centuries.

 

Some scientists believe that human activities are speeding-up the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In greater concentrations, these gases, can lead to increased warming to the atmosphere.