Ticking clock on one of our great national parks?

One of our country's most sacred and preserved landmarks may be melting away: Glacier National Park.  Worldwide, glaciers are diminishing, as well as the ice from Iceland and the North Pole is melting. However, much of this country isn't losing sleep over what seems proof of global warming. Maybe the loss of one of the most beautiful areas in the country will be the spark plug to ignite some concern in a person or two. At Glacier National Park in Montana, glaciers are already receding and disappearing with the warmer temperatures and changing water cycle. CCME (Climate to Change in Mountain Ecosystems) has done research on Glacier National Park, and in 2003, with the use of a computer-based climate model, they predicted that some of the park's largest glaciers would be gone by 2030. It has already been estimated that there were approximately 150 glaciers present in 1850 in the area in which the park was established in 1910. According to the U.S. Geological Survey in 2010, there were a total of 37 named glaciers in the park, but only 25 remained large enough to still be considered glaciers. Of the 12 glaciers that have melted away, 11 have melted away since 1966. According to a 2010 report from the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the last decade in Glacier National Park saw double the temperature increase for the planet as a whole. Another report from the RMCO showed that in Western Montana, from 2000-2008, there were eight more days a year of 90 degrees Fahrenheit or higher temperatures. There are even certain signs that are leading scientists to believe that all glaciers at the national park will be gone by 2030. The effects are obvious, wildlife will have to adapt to the new ecosystem or will diminish. The beautiful glaciers will be gone, and without the glacier melt in the summers, the temperature of the area's water will increase, which will then also hurt the wildlife in the area. With all these factors, this will be a huge loss for the country's natural habitat, as well as it will be a big blow for Montana's tourism industry. 

from The Colorado Independent.
a pretty dry looking Glacier National Park

http://www.nrdc.org/media/2010/100407.asp 
http://nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/glacier_retreat.htm

Climate change may be a scare for ski resorts

Ski Resorts could be a thing of the past in a couple decades, with climate change causing a dramatic loss of snow cover at ski resorts over the world. Some ski resorts are seeing much less snow overall; ski seasons are shortening in certain areas; and rising global temperatures are only going to further reduce snowfall. Three years ago, organizers of a United Nations conference in Davos, Switzerland gathered with ski resort tour operators and officials from around the world to make everyone aware that the ski business is in danger. "The entire tourism product will be affected," said Geoffrey Lipman, assistant secretary general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. "Every destination has a climate-related component." While some of the higher altitude ski resorts in the world, such as Vail and Breckinridge in Colorado still thrive; there is a lot of evidence that some resorts are suffering from this change in climate. One of the leading destinations in the world, Whistler Blackcomb in Canada, could disappear from the skiing map. Other low-lying resorts may be in danger as well. A report released by Bill McGuire, the professor of geohazards and director of the Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, says that Alpine temperatures have increased by 2C since the 1970s. According to McGuire, further warming could cause the area's resorts to experience a 30% loss in snow cover by 2020, rising to a 50% decline by the 2050s. Essentially, low lying ski resorts like Whistler could be gone in 20 years, and climate change will certainly have some sort of effect on other ski resorts around the world. Higher altitude resorts may have to face additional risks such as unpredictable conditions, landslides, and avalanches. Either way you see, skiing may be facing some harsh realities ahead. "Increasing global temperatures by 2030 could have a devastating impact on the winter holiday industry," said McGuire. 


http://www.easier.com/15268-is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-traditional-ski-holiday.html