Center News

RMNP’s future in flux because of climate change

By Rebecca Boyle
rboyle@fortcollinsnow.com

Northern Colorado’s crown jewel is a few years from its first century, but a new era is already beginning for Rocky Mountain National Park.

Although no one can say what the park’s next 100 years will look like, there’s little question that changes are already under way thanks to a global phenomenon: climate change.

Last week, the National Park Service and the Center of the American West, a think tank at the University of Colorado-Boulder, released the results of a a two-day workshop last fall on the ecological implications of climate change for Rocky. At first glance, the anticipated changes appear drastic and long-lasting.

(Read on …)

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK – Climate changes predicted for the Rocky Mountain National Park area could provide scientists with both new challenges and new opportunities in this living laboratory.

Rocky Mountain National Park and the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado have released a new report that studies the anticipated effects climate change could have on the park’s ecosystems. (Read on …)

Publish Date: 6/18/2008
By Pamela Dickman
The Reporter-Herald

Predictions of starving polar bears and melting ice caps have become a symbol for the dangers of global warming. But what about ice and wildlife in Northern Colorado?

Permafrost at Rocky Mountain National Park is thawing and, if it continues, could cause Trail Ridge Road to slump, said Judy Visty, park research administrator.

“We don’t have the amount of ice they have in Alaska, but we do have permafrost,” said Visty, who will present findings of a recent climate change workshop to the public Thursday. (Read on …)

A changing climate

By Kyle Patterson Special to the Trail-Gazette
Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Rocky Mountain National Park and the Center of the American West recently released a report on climate change. The report highlights the results of a workshop held in November where experts from around the state came to discuss the anticipated effects that climate change would have on the Park’s ecosystems.

Join Park research administrator Judy Visty on Thursday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain National Park to learn more about the report. The program is free and open to the public. (Read on …)

ESTES PARK — Rocky Mountain National Park and the Center of the American West will hold a program to discuss results of a recently released a report on climate change at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at in the auditorium at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain National Park.

The report highlights the results of a workshop held in November where experts from around the state discussed anticipated effects that climate change would have on the park’s ecosystems.

The report examines possible impacts to the park’s snowpack, stream flow, glaciers, wetlands, greenback cutthroat trout and animals that live on the alpine tundra.

The program is free and open to the public.

To download the report, visit the Center of the American West at www.centerwest.org or Rocky Mountain National Park at www.nps.gov/romo.