Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is one of 25 national parks identified as being most threatened by climate change in a study conducted jointly by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization.

The study, released on Thursday, characterizes the National Lakeshore as “vulnerable to a loss of ice and snow, a loss of water, more downpours and floods, a loss of plant communities, a loss of wildlife, more crowding, a loss of fishing, and more air pollution”: all the consequences of climate change caused by “human activities” resulting in “the emission of heat-trapping gases.”

Global warming very likely will decrease opportunities for snow-dependent outdoor winter recreation in national parks, including Indiana Dunes, where the snowshoeing and cross-country skiing season is already getting shorter, in the face of the almost 4 degree Fahrenheit increase in average temperatures in the Upper Great Lakes region in the 20th century,” the study states.

“In the Upper Midwest, the water level of the Great Lakes is likely to fall,” the study states. “Scientists project that Great Lake levels could fall by as much as several feet by 2090.

In the Great Lakes parks, fixed docks and boat ramps could be too high, deeper-draft boats could lose access to docks and anchorages, and drying wetlands on lake edges could affect habitat and food for fish and birds.”

“With a changed climate, more precipitation comes in downpours,” the study states. “The amount of rain falling in heavy storms increased by 20 percent over the past century, while there has been little change in the amount from light and moderate storms. . . . With an increase in downpours, flooding is also likely to increase. Virtually all national parks in Indiana and elsewhere are at risk.”

“Indiana Dunes has an astonishing diversity of plants, with more than 1,100 flowering plants,” the study states. “The park is already struggling with invasive plant species that threaten the local ecosystems, a problem which could be worsened by an altered climate.”

A “changed climate could mean less of the wildlife species now in the parks,” the study states. “Some species may go completely extinct and local populations in particular parks may be eliminated or decline sharply.

At Indiana Dunes, numbers of Karner blue butterflies, an endangered species, have declined in years of low snow cover, thought to be from a loss of protection that snow provides for over-wintering eggs.”

“As temperatures soar with a change in climate, to escape oppressive heat enough people may flock to cooler northern parks and to national lakeshores to overcrowd them,” the statement said. “Overcrowding could be a significant problem particularly for those parks that offer a break from the heat and are close to major population centers, including Indiana Dunes with beaches just a few miles from Gary and about 2 million visitors each year.”

A “changed climate threaten to reduce fish populations and recreational fish opportunities in the parks,” the study states. “At Indiana Dunes fishing for Chinook and coho salmon and trout could be affected if, as projected, warmer temperatures reduce salmon and trout populations.”

“Because future climate-change driven increases in ozone levels are expected to be greatest where ozone levels already are high, the Lakeshore is at risk of continued, perhaps worsened, levels of unhealthful air,” the study states.

Other parks threatened by climate change, according to the study, include Everglades, Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Joshua Tree.

The study recommends 32 actions to preserve these national parks, among them the creation of new ones and the expansion of existing ones; the promotion beyond park boundaries of preservation efforts; and the adoption by the National Park Service of becoming climate-neutral in its own operations within parks.

In addition, the federal government “must take three essential steps,” the study states: enacting comprehensive mandatory limits on global warming pollution; overcoming barriers to investment in energy efficiency; and accelerating the development of clean energy technologies.

Posted 10/2/2009