Temperatures in the most exposed parks could rise 16 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. Since Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, the lands protected by the National Park Service have stood as symbols of preservation and natural wonder. They are also forward indicators of the impact climate change has and will have on the United States, according to a new study by researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Madison-Wisconsin.
By 2100, temperatures in the most exposed national parks could rise as much as 16 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius), according to the research published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The authors predict this accelerated warming trend may also lead to the extinction of many small animal and plant species who live within National Parks, who would be left unable to cope with the rapid temperature shift. ?Human-caused climate change is already increasing the area burned by wildfires across the western U.S., melting glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park and shifting vegetation to higher elevations in Yosemite National Park,? said Patrick Gonzalez, associate adjunct professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley and a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, a summary of the most up-to-date scientific knowledge of climate change.

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