Climate change seen hurting national parks

[gulfcoastliberal]

America's beauty spots of Yosemite National Park, Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area won't escape the consequences of global warming over the next decades, according to a report released Tuesday by a national environmental group and a Colorado climate coalition.

Rising waters of the Pacific Ocean, due to melting glaciers and other events caused by the warming atmosphere and oceans, could inundate and erode coastal parks. That includes 59 miles of Golden Gate National Recreation Area beaches such as Ocean, Baker, Muir and Stinson.

Records already show that the Western United States is warming twice as fast as the rest of the country. And based on widely accepted computer models, national parks in the West and Southwest face climate disruptions leading to prolonged drought, severe wildfires and melting snow, the report said.

"If we continue to increase our emissions of heat-trapping gases, a disrupted climate will cause the greatest damage to our national parks ever,'' said Stephen Saunders, a principal author.

Saunders is president of Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, a collaboration of local governments; businesses; a farmers' union; and Denver Water, the urban area's largest water provider. The group prepared the report with experts from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/26/BAGCTK5IFJ1.DTL

Better go hike Pantoll Station on Mt Tamalpais again next time I'm back west.