How National Parks Are Making Climate Change Visible

Denali climate change
WBEZ
Denali climate change
WBEZ

How National Parks Are Making Climate Change Visible

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The effects of climate change are often slow and hard to see, but national parks across the country are figuring out ways to make these seemingly subtle changes striking and visual. 

We talked to a few people behind these efforts in Alaska’s national park system on Twitter for our latest #HOTM chat. They shared their take on this Heat of the Moment story and talked about the evolving role of national parks as climate change fundamentally alters landscapes. 

Our guest hosts were Dr. Leigh Welling of NPS’s Climate Change Response Program and WBEZ’s Katherine Nagasawa. Catch up below and send any other questions you have to @AlaskaNPS and @kat_nagasawa.

The Arctic is an area that will be crucial in addressing climate change going forward. Alaska’s National Park system shared some numbers:

Parks across Alaska shared how warming temps have impacted the area:

The Heat of the Moment story focused on landscape change, but Alaskan communities’ cultures and livelihoods are threatened as well:

Here’s how the National Parks are responding and preparing:

There are a number of national parks working on creative ways to communicate climate change to the public:

And as climate change shifts temperatures and landscapes, the parks shared how their role has shifted: