According to two recent information, some of California’s most prized parks are in danger of pest as a result of pollution and climate change.
The four national parks with the highest oxygen levels are all in California, with Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks topping the list of gardens struggling with weather that’s unsafe to swallow, according to , a new report , by the National Parks Conservation Association, an impartial advocacy group.
However, severe wildfires, drought and ocean- level rise are ravaging state parks, which encompass almost a quarter of California’s coastline, according to , a distinct report , by the California State Parks Foundation, another advocacy group.
Ulla Reeves, time chairman for NPCA’s clear weather system, called California’s efficiency in the Polluted Parks record “disappointing”.
Joshua Tree National Park is ranked second in terms of air pollution, behind Mojave National Preserve and Yosemite National Park, both.
Death Valley National Park is next, just ahead of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, on the list.
” It’s certainly a wonder that air pollution is a problem in California. I think people know this”, Reeves said of her home position. However, we can see that the redwoods, the Joshua trees, and all of these locations are experiencing significant air pollution and climate risks.
Behemoth evergreens and rough Joshua trees are among , millions of trees across the state falling to worsening fire, extreme drought, extreme warmth, disease and other pressures that have been intensified by global warming.
Because greenhouse gases do n’t respect the boundaries of parks, there are numerous sources of pollution that bleed into wilderness areas in California. These include car-dependent population centers like Los Angeles, San Joaquin Valley’s agricultural and industrial hubs, trucking and warehouse operations, and the constantly bustling Ports Complex in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The report classified nearly 400 parks according to three distinct air quality categories: unhealthy air, harm to nature, and hazy skies. The report also examined four primary climate change threats affecting parks — wildfire, drought, sea level rise and invasive species.
The report used , publicly available , National Park Service data, but it was not reviewed by park service staff, according to a spokesperson for the agency.
Joshua Tree National Park’s volunteer program coordinator, Sasha Travaglio, stated in a statement that the park keeps an eye on its air quality to understand the pollutants that are affecting parks and collaborates with government agencies to develop rules.
The report, which updated a 2019 report of the same name, contained some encouraging findings.
The number of parks with significant concern levels in at least one of the air quality conditions decreased from 96 % to 70 % as a result of various air quality measures.
Significant concerns for unhealthy air decreased by 52 %, and hazy skies fell by 94 %, which the report attributes to the enforcement of a number of clean air laws.
However, according to a recent report, 97 % of national parks still experience significant or unsatisfactory air pollution levels. Additionally, California has not experienced the same improvements as the rest of the nation.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon, which are contiguous, once more claiming the ignominious top spot in the Golden State, are home to four of the national parks with the haziest skies. The top ten included Death Valley, Pinnacles, and Channel Islands National Park.
Additionally, according to the report, 57 % of national parks have grave climate-related issues.
National parks across the country are disproportionately at risk of wildfires, which is the second-leading threat, despite the fact that invasive species were identified as the primary climate threat for them.
As of 2022, half of the , state’s 20 largest fires , ignited over the previous five years. About 4 % of the state burned in 2020 alone, the worst fire season on record. The cost has been paid for both state and national parks.
In addition to the Joshua tree ashes that were burned in the 2020 Dome fire, the York fire last year turned a portion of the preserve into a , “graveyard of Joshua tree skeletons,” according to the National Park Service. Another 2020 fire in Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park mowed down more of the world-renowned desert trees.
Between 2020 and 2021, three fierce wildfires are estimated to have killed , 19 % of all giant sequoias , in their limited range in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which includes parts of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Sequoia National Forest. Sequoias need fire to reproduce, but the , supercharged blazes of recent years , have become lethal to the trees already weakened by drought and bark beetles.
Many ancient redwoods were seared in a , 2020 fire , that devastated 97 % of Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the oldest state park, according to the state parks foundation report.
Compared to the 2019 Polluted Parks report, there was no improvement in the harm to nature category. The evaluation is based on the impact of ozone pollution on trees and plants as well as the levels of sulfur and nitrogen that enter soil and water.
For the harm to nature category, 69 % met the criteria for significant concern, with nitrogen deposition playing an outsize role. Nitrogen and sulfur, which are washed out of the sky by precipitation, can contaminate soil and water. According to the report, high nitrogen levels can cause algae blooms and kill fish.
Reeves claimed that the report provides a new perspective on how air pollution and climate change are wreaking havoc on the world, “because these places we love, and we want to protect, are not only our communities and people experiencing these problems, but also our communities and people.”
Hopefully, she said, the dire findings in the report will motivate people to do more to safeguard national parks for future generations.
The report’s recommendations include putting together new emission standards for vehicles, as well as setting ozone and fine particulate standards specifically to protect scenic views and nature.
The Regional Haze Rule, a measure intended to address flaws and hold polluters accountable for their detrimental effects on national parks, is another suggestion made in the report.
State parks can solve climate change issues, according to Rachel Norton, executive director of the California State Parks Foundation.
California State Parks, the agency overseeing the state park system, manages an astounding 1.6 million acres of land. Norton referred to the parks as a “lever that the state really has full control over.”
While California ca n’t pass laws that govern national parks, it can make budget decisions for its own parks, she said. In a recent report, the state parks foundation recommends investing tens of millions of dollars to combat wildfire and sea-level rise at the parks as well as employing permanent staff to assist with climate change initiatives.
” And if]the state ] chooses to not invest, and not see these places as essential and critical to the success of our climate goals, then we might fail”, she said. ” And that’s kind of unthinkable”.
___
© 2024 Los Angeles Times
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
