Transcript 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/landmanagers-unprepared-for-effects-ofclimate-change-oncrown/article_6062cfaa-af06-11e3-a6e20019bb2963f4.html