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