Scientists Say Climate Change Damaging National Parks

July 4 is one of the busiest weekends for national parks across the country. Visitors to parks this weekend, especially in coastal areas may see the effects of climate change. The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Officials are warning that these impacts are threatening the future of parks nationwide. For more on this topic we will speak with Rebecca beavers, the coastal geology and adaptation coordinator for the Park service. She joins us from Denver, Colorado. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me today. Let's start right here in San Diego. Is Cabrillo national Monument at risk in some ways of being affected by climate change? Yes. We have to recognize that climate change is a global problem. And maybe first held in some locations that already experience life on the edge. As an urban park on the West Coast of North America, Cabrillo experiences climate change at multiple levels. If we set the local level we are in the proximity of San Diego. It could lead to low oxygen zones. In Southern California you are in a coastal up flowing level. Where the pH is already naturally low. Organisms are having their tolerant affected by ocean acidification. It affects how organisms can make the shelter protect muscles and other and cresting organisms, along the coast of California. Their 180 national parks across the country that are in some way vulnerable to sea level change. What could be the consequences of climate change in those places? What market he say? And other areas we recognize that we are seeing elements of elevated seat -- sea surface temperature. The element of sea level change is important to recognize. Laces in Alaska are seeing a relative lowering in sea level. We are seeing increases in sea level. The increase in water level is adding two other stressors that we are already seeing a coastal parks. I have heard that beaches are so affected that it is impacting parking availability. That is true. Just up the coast from San Diego in Golden gate national recreation area, very popular beach is Ocean Beach Due West of San Francisco. In the area we are working with the corps of engineers on sediment management. As a set of minarets from the beaches, some of it is affected by dredging of the navigation channels to bring the large ships into the ports. When we can replace that sediment, it can affect and provide a good recreational beach but also great beaches and coastal areas for nesting shorebirds and other species and plans that use those coastlines. As far as parking goes it is the erosion of these. The erosion of the beach can affect the parking in the sense that if the area of the beach arose, the parking lot may not be stable. We have actually had to cut the parking back in some way so it may limit your access the parking. And other places around the country we have been able to change the type of parking lot. We use different surfaces. Those places we use a clay base with a shell surface. That gives us a typo parking lot that if it is overwash by a storm we can restore it quickly and put more natural materials back into the environment. President Obama was a note -- yes committee last month. Let's talk about that Park which is inland. What affects is climate change have in there? Climate has been one of the more important factors controlling the area burned by wildfire in the recent century. It affects areas of Sequoia, Yellowstone, and use committee. Wildfires are a natural and need a part of the ecosystem. The consent of excessive wildfire can damage the ecosystem and result in tragic deaths of firefighters and residents. We recognize it may be a change in increased occurrence and intensity of wildfire. As the. Climate change is affecting the behavior of animals. How is it affecting the behavior of visitors to national parks? We are seeing that visitors may be making some choices in terms of where and when they visit parks. A recent study was looking at current rates of visitation and how they might change into the future recognizing that when people get to hunt apart they might be uncomfortable. There are certain thresholds which people may be choosing not to visit a parks such as death Valley or South Florida and Everglades. They may be choosing to go to northern parks. One of the things that I heard, which I find interesting? There are some parks with roads that are being replaced with very systems. We are looking at parks where the road systems are difficult to maintain. Some of the places are the islands along the Gulf of Mexico coast in Florida. To been repeatedly damaged by tropical storms and hurricanes. We are looking at adding a very alternatives to access the Park so that we can keep providing access to the parks for visitors. Is that partly due to sea level rise? That is just one of many factors. The storms are part of the coastal system that is really affecting how our parks are able to be accessed. With storms you can overwash a road and change where the stand is located. You can remove didn't and cut new inlets. We have to be careful in terms of how we can provide access to the parks. You feel those storms are due to climate change? The timing of the storms and the intensity of those storms may be a Chamita to climate change. The coastal systems have always experienced storms. We are seeing some of those changes in the King tides and other features along the Pacific coast. There is a factor related to climate change. We think of, change more as a threat multiplier. May not be just climate change alone but it is making other threat worse. One more question about how the Park service response to it. What can they do to mitigate these effects or are we beyond the scope of what we can fix? There is an element of fixing. One is adaptation and one is medic -- mitigation. We can change where dogs are located and where roads are located, what type of building is in a given setting to provide for visitor use. We can also begin to mitigate the impacts. This is where visitors can make a difference. They can look at hybrid vehicles. They can look at using sources of renewable energy. They can also recycle and find other ways to benefit the planet. Well, Tran30 is the coastal geology and adaptation coordinator for the National Park Service. 10-Q very much for joining us. Thank you so much for your time and your interest in the National Park Service.