HELENA, Mont. – Far from being a future threat, climate change already is making national parks hotter and the effects could get much worse, according to a first-of-its-kind study.

Researchers went back to 1895 to chart temperatures and found they're rising twice as fast in the country's national parks as it they are in the rest of America.

Patrick Gonzalez, a study co-author and climate change scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, says rising temperatures, unfortunately, have made Glacier National Park famous for its melting glaciers.

While the study makes stunning predictions for parks in the future, he says Montana's national parks are in the midst of climate change right now.

"We don't actually need to look just to the future,” he states. “The high elevation national parks in the Pacific Northwest have already experienced substantial warming and impacts that have been detected and attributed to human-caused climate change."

Gonzalez notes that winter snowpack in the Pacific Northwest has fallen to its lowest levels in 800 years and that wildfires have doubled since 1985.

The study says national parks often protect extreme environments, which are more susceptible to temperature rises.

Gonzalez's research predicts that if nothing is done to curb emissions, the country's most vulnerable national parks could see average temperatures increase 16 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.

In places such as Montana, warmer temperatures could mean more infestations of bark beetles, which already are killing forests.

The pest has wiped out more than 1 million acres of whitebark pine trees in Yellowstone National Park.

But Gonzalez says this isn't a doom-and-gloom report. He notes that results confirm that reducing carbon pollution from cars, power plants and other human sources can save parks from the most extreme heat.

"Compared to the highest emission scenario, reduced emissions would lower the rate of heating in the national parks by two-thirds by the end of this century,” he points out. “And this reducing greenhouse gas emissions through existing technologies."

Gonzalez adds the country has the technological capacity at its disposal to improve energy efficiency, install renewable sources of power like wind and solar, and expand public transit in order to lower greenhouse gas emissions.


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As millions of Americans are struggling to fill their gas tanks, a new report shows that rising prices are padding the bottom lines of powerful oil and gas companies.

Exxon and Chevron alone brought in more than $12 billion in profits during the first quarter of 2022, more than $7 billion dollars more than the same period a year ago.

Karl Frisch - senior advisor with the government watchdog group Accountable.US, which produced the report - said the industry is taking advantage of converging global crises, including the war in Ukraine and pandemic-related inflation.

"And rather than spending those billions of dollars in additional profits to help stabilize prices for consumers," said Frisch, "they are showering those profits on their already wealthy executives."

Industry groups have argued that - after suffering years of low oil prices due to overproduction and a drop in demand during the pandemic - stronger than projected revenues are helping companies get back on track.

Others have noted that the drive for high quarterly returns is business as usual for publicly traded companies with a fiduciary obligation to maximize profits.

Frisch said it's disingenuous for highly profitable companies to point to leaner years as a reason to waste profits that could be put to much better use. He said these companies never lose.

"When Big Oil loses money, we bail them out," said Frisch. "When Bil Oil makes money, they just make money, and they do nothing to help consumers. You're talking about an industry that took billions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program funds from taxpayers during the height of the pandemic."

Frisch argued the industry is wasting an opportunity to invest in energy strategies that can better withstand shocks to the global economy, shocks that are only projected to increase as the impacts of climate change grow.

"The best way to limit the impact on consumers is to start shifting away from these sources of fuels," said Frisch. "And that is something that the oil and gas industry already invests in, and they could invest in it even more."

A coalition of more than 60 environmental and community groups are calling on Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and other elected officials to act faster to avert the worst impacts of a warming planet.

Patricia Nelson, finance director for Safe and Healthy Colorado, lives in Weld County, which produces more than half of the state's oil and gas. She said instead of ramping up production, Polis should direct the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to stop issuing fracking permits.

"We also need to implement some kind of just transition program to retrain workers, because people in communities like mine, we don't have any other choice," Nelson asserted. "There aren't any other jobs for us."

The coalition delivered a petition urging the Polis administration to declare a climate emergency and to develop a more comprehensive plan to phase out fossil-fuel production no later than 2030.

Climate scientists warn pollution from fossil fuels must peak and begin to drop within three years in order to keep global temperatures from reaching dangerous levels. The governor's office has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Kevin Cross, convener of the Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate, said the governor's current greenhouse-reduction road map doesn't move fast enough, and largely lets the oil and gas industry off the hook. He pointed out many politicians have been afraid to push for a faster transition to cleaner energy, but making incremental progress is no longer an option.

"We really didn't act as a society back in the 1990s, 1980s, when it would have been a relatively easy problem to address," Cross recounted. "Now the emergency is upon us, and we need to act quickly."

More than eight in 10 Coloradans consider climate change a serious problem, and 98% say wildfires threatening homes are serious as well, according to a recent poll.

Nelson argued the single biggest barrier to action on climate is the fossil-fuel industry, but she is cautiously optimistic if enough Coloradans make their voices heard, lawmakers will find the political will to act.

"Given that there is so much influence by the industry -- because of the lobbying that happens, because of the large donations -- we still have a lot of work to do," Nelson acknowledged. "We're going to have to continue to put pressure on these politicians that were meant to serve the people, not corporations."

Duke Energy's solar panel rebate program expires this year, and faith groups such as the North Carolina Council of Churches and Interfaith Power and Light are urging churches across the state to take advantage of the program during National Faith Climate Action Week, which begins today.

Anne Hodges-Copple, bishop suffragan of the Diocese of North Carolina, said dozens of North Carolina congregations have saved on energy bills using the program.

"There's all kinds of partners ready to help make this line up in a way that just has a huge benefit to any worshiping community that needs to save money," Hodges-Copple pointed out. "As well as cares about taking care of the earth."

A 2018 survey by the U.S. Energy Information Administration found many commercial buildings, including churches, spend thousands of dollars a year on lighting and space heating and cooling.

Elizabeth Bennett, director of stakeholder engagement for Duke Energy, said churches may be able to receive up to $75,000 in rebates.

"And what the rebate program does is not only provides a rebate for nonprofits who want to install solar, but really helps them through the process," Bennett explained.

She noted church leaders should first look at the program's eligibility requirements and added there are plenty of resources to help congregations start the process.