Looking for climate science related to the national park of your choice? On this page you'll find climate change research projects produced by the National Park Service that include park-specific impact briefs.
Each panel expands to include general information about the project and download links to each brief.
Each panel expands to include general information about the project and download links to each brief.
Park Visitation and Climate Change
Warming Temperatures Likely to Alter Visitation Across the National Park System
Climate change will affect not only natural and cultural resources within national parks, but also visitation patterns. Where, when, and how many people visit parks is likely to change with continued warming. This research seeks to understand the temperature—visitation relationship in 340 units of the U.S. national park system; each brief can be downloaded below.
Learn more about this study on the project homepage
Download the overall project brief [PDF] and view the journal article
Source: Data Store Collection 5503. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
Recent Climate Exposure
Climate Exposure of U.S. National Parks in a New Era of Change
Climate change is ongoing across the national park system; an overwhelming majority of parks are already at the extreme warm end of their historical conditions. This is a core finding from published research by NPS scientists. This study updates the basic climate inventories of 289 national park units; each brief can be downloaded below.
Learn more about this study on the project homepage
View the journal article and news release
Source: Data Store Collection 5502. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
Eastern Forest Vulnerability
Forest Vulnerability Assessment Information Available for 121 Parks
Eastern forests experienced tremendous changes in recent decades and centuries due to direct and indirect human influences. The coming decades will likely bring continued changes due to multiple global change factors including climate change and nonnative species. This research investigated potential forest change in response to climate, differences in projections of change among climate scenarios (uncertainty), and levels of nonnative biotic stressors (tree pests and invasive plants) at 121 parks in the eastern U.S.; each brief can be downloaded below.
Learn more about this study on the project homepage
Download the overall project brief [PDF] and view the journal article [PDF]
Source: Data Store Collection 5504. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
Bird Response to Climate Change in National Parks
Widget coming soon! For now, please see the Projected Effects of Climate Change on Birds in U.S. National Parks page to download each of the 274 briefs.
Find more NPS climate adaptation science on the Adaptation Resources page.
Last updated: May 28, 2020