effects of global warming on land management
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Harrison Ruesch. Effects of Global Warming on Land Management. Glacier National Park. Superintendent Jeff Mow has dealt with numerous obstacles due to climate change at his parks. The hardest part with dealing with the constant change, is not being able to predict what will change. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING
ON LAND MANAGEMENT
Harrison Ruesch
Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow has dealt with
numerous obstacles due to climate change at his parks.
The hardest part with dealing with the constant change, is not being able to predict what will change.
Examples of Climate Change
More severe fire seasons Drier winters Wetter springs and falls Increasing invasive species Increasing human population
Ex. Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park Built to feature exit glacier
Glacier has melted so much since 1990, that it can’t be seen anymore
Kenai Fjords National Park Though, the glacier has melted, it still
controls the park In 2004, the main visitor road started
flooding out at times when no flooding had ever occurred before.
Why? National Weather Service
meteorologists were unable to find the weather source causing the flooding
They know the glacier’s melt water is the cause, however what triggered the flood timing remains uncertain.
Result Kenai Fjords’ most popular road had 4 to
5 inches of sheeting water running across it
Damage costs were around 4 to 5 million to rebuild the two miles of road, which wouldn’t necessarily even fix the problem
Result Due to the uncertainty, Mow decided to
spend just 400,000 dollars on barriers and sandbags to make the road passable again
Takeaway Future climate change has so many
factors and variables, we cannot tell what to prepare for
The best we can do is generate a range of possible scenarios and take guesses about which to act
People are continuing to develop better ways to deal with climate change
Sources http://missoulian.com/news/local/land-
managers-unprepared-for-effects-of-climate-change-on-crown/article_6062cfaa-af06-11e3-a6e2-0019bb2963f4.html