
I did my best to get away from work last week while my family and I were on vacation visiting friends who live in Kalispell, the gateway to Montana’s Glacier National Park. But it wasn’t quite possible. You see, I’m a climate scientist. And the spectre of climate change stares you in the face as you tour the park.
The once great mountain glaciers that gave the park its name have retreated dramatically in recent decades. Of the roughly 150 glaciers that existed in the park when it was established in 1910, only 25 remain today. You can’t help but notice their tenuous appearance as you approach the continental divide heading up Going-to-the-Sun road toward Logan Pass, and as you hike the nearby trails watching Pika nervously scurry about as if they somehow sense a looming threat. Climate model projections indicate that Glacier National Park might lose all of its glaciers by 2030 as human-caused global warming proceeds. Perhaps it will be renamed “The Park formerly known as Glacier.”
But that’s just one of climate change impacts you see and feel. As you enter the park, you’re warned that the current fire threat is “high.” Fuel load is at peak levels due to pine forests weakened by warmth-loving pests such as “Pine Bark Beetle” that have moved as far north as northern Montana in recent years. The high fuel load has combined with extreme heat and drought in recent years to pose a wildfire triple threat, a threat that can be linked to climate change.
There were no active wildfires in the park that I was aware of during my visit. But according to The Hill, there are roughly 30 major wildfires raging across three West Coast states with California battling over a dozen large fires during the worst drought in the state's history, forcing Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency last weekend. The smoke plume from the west coast wildfires is so massive that smoke is being transported all the way to Montana. This smoke was visible as we explored Glacier National Park, obscuring our view of some of the more distant peaks. Another reminder, as if we needed one, that climate change is already having a very intimate impact on our world.
Almost as if to comment on my experience, the White House released a video yesterday linking America's increasingly more frequent and widespread wildfires to climate change.
“Climate change has been making the fire season in the U.S. longer and on average more intense,” President Obama's Science Advisor Dr. John Holdren says in the video. He explains that wildfires have “increased several-fold in the last decade” and the eight worst years on record for “area burned” by wildfires “have all occurred since 2000.”
"The influence of climate change on the wildfire regime comes not just from the higher summer temperatures and reduced summer soil moisture that go with global warming, but climate change is also bringing us more dead trees—kindling in effect—killed by a combination of heat stress, water stress and attacks by pests and pathogens that multiply faster in a warmer world," Holdren added.
He warns, "Longer, hotter, dryer summers are projected to continue to increase the frequency and intensity of large wildfires in the United States."
You Might Also Like
White House Senior Science Advisor: Wildfires Are Linked to Climate Change
New EarthX Special 'Protecting the Amazon' Suggests Ways to Save the World’s Greatest Rainforest
To save the planet, we must save the Amazon rainforest. To save the rainforest, we must save its indigenous peoples. And to do that, we must demarcate their land.
A new EarthxTV film special calls for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people that call it home. EarthxTV.org
- Meet the 'Women Warriors' Protecting the Amazon Forest - EcoWatch ›
- Indigenous Tribes Are Using Drones to Protect the Amazon ... ›
- Amazon Rainforest Will Collapse by 2064, New Study Predicts ... ›
- Deforestation in Amazon Skyrockets to 12-Year High Under Bolsonaro ›
- Amazon Rainforest on the Brink of Turning Into a Net Carbon Emitter ... ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Anke Rasper
"Today's interim report from the UNFCCC is a red alert for our planet," said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The report, released Friday, looks at the national climate efforts of 75 states that have already submitted their updated "nationally determined contributions," or NDCs. The countries included in the report are responsible for about 30% of the world's global greenhouse gas emissions.
- World Leaders Fall Short of Meeting Paris Agreement Goal - EcoWatch ›
- UN Climate Change Conference COP26 Delayed to November ... ›
- 5 Years After Paris: How Countries' Climate Policies Match up to ... ›
- Biden Win Puts World 'Within Striking Distance' of 1.5 C Paris Goal ... ›
- Biden Reaffirms Commitment to Rejoining Paris Agreement ... ›
Trending
Plastic Burning Makes It Harder for New Delhi Residents to See, Study Suggests
India's New Delhi has been called the "world air pollution capital" for its high concentrations of particulate matter that make it harder for its residents to breathe and see. But one thing has puzzled scientists, according to The Guardian. Why does New Delhi see more blinding smogs than other polluted Asian cities, such as Beijing?
- This Indian Startup Turns Polluted Air Into Climate-Friendly Tiles ... ›
- How to Win the Fight Against Plastic - EcoWatch ›
In a historic move, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) voted Thursday to ban hydraulic fracking in the region. The ban was supported by all four basin states — New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York — putting a permanent end to hydraulic fracking for natural gas along the 13,539-square-mile basin, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
- Appalachian Fracking Boom Was a Jobs Bust, Finds New Report ... ›
- Long-Awaited EPA Study Says Fracking Pollutes Drinking Water ... ›
- Pennsylvania Fracking Water Contamination Much Higher Than ... ›
Colombia is one of the world's largest producers of coffee, and yet also one of the most economically disadvantaged. According to research by the national statistic center DANE, 35% of the population in Columbia lives in monetary poverty, compared to an estimated 11% in the U.S., according to census data. This has led to a housing insecurity issue throughout the country, one which construction company Woodpecker is working hard to solve.
- Kenyan Engineer Recycles Plastic Into Bricks Stronger Than ... ›
- Could IKEA's New Tiny House Help Fight the Climate Crisis ... ›