Report: Colorado National Parks Under the Gun of Global Warming
Monday, July 16, 2007
America's National Parks are being threatened by an "Unnatural Disaster" according to a new report from the National Parks Conservation Association that looks at the affects of global warming. The report highlights the increased danger from wildfires to parks across the West, and David Nimkin with the NPCA says higher temperatures also spell trouble for Colorado's high-altitude gems.
“Tundra, above the tree-line, continues to go up the mountains, and there's nowhere else for the flora and the fauna to go, so resulting change in habitat has profound implications.”
Nimkin notes some of the major culprits behind the climate problem are right in our backyard, and they have other adverse affects on our parks, too.
“There are also 17 existing coal-fired power plants in operation along the Colorado Plateau that have profound affects on air visibility, on acid rain...”
Nimkin's group is calling on Congress and the White House to put the brakes on plans to build more coal plants in the Southwest and nationwide. He believes they have a responsibility to act.
“The law is established to preserve and protect our parks for present and future generations, and we should look at all those threats that affect the parks.”
He says more needs to be done to address climate change, including encouraging conservation and switching from polluting, coal-fired power plants to more renewables.
NCPA's report is available at www.ncpa.org/globalwarming.
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