WCU report shows that rising sea levels will threaten national parks

The U.S. Department of the Interior released a report yesterday, June 23, that predicts the risk posed to U.S. national parks by rising sea levels.

Based on an examination of 40 parks – about one-third of those considered threatened by sea-level rise – the report estimates that national parks infrastructure and historic and cultural resources valued at more than $40 billion are at high risk of damage from sea-level rise caused by climate change.

The report was co-authored by WCU professor of geology Rob Young, who directs WCU’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, and coastal research scientist Katie McDowell Peek, and both collaborated with National Park Service scientists to produce the report.

The shorelines program has received several National Park Service grants in recent years to assist the agency in identifying resources threatened by sea-level rise and producing strategies for the preservation of the parks’ infrastructure and resources. The program is an internationally known advocate for science-based coastal management policies that consider and balance economic and environmental interests.

“We are honored that Western Carolina University is playing a major role in this process, which will help preserve these parks for the next generation of Americans,” Young said. “To no small degree, the protection of our nation’s coastal heritage is being guided from Cullowhee.”

According to Sally Jewell, U.S. secretary of the interior who released the report, the survey is still continuing.

“Climate change is visible at national parks across the country, but this report underscores the economic importance of cutting carbon pollution and making public lands more resilient to its dangerous impacts,” Jewell said. “Through sound science and collaboration, we will use this research to help protect some of America’s most iconic places – from the Statue of Liberty to Golden Gate and from the Redwoods to Cape Hatteras – that are at risk from climate change.”

Press Release from Randall Holcombe:

WCU scientists co-author U.S. Department of Interior report on risk of sea-level rise

CULLOWHEE – A report released Tuesday (June 23) by the U.S. Department of the Interior that predicts the risk posed to U.S. national parks by rising sea levels was co-authored by two scientists from Western Carolina University’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines.

WCU professor of geology Rob Young, who directs the shorelines program, and coastal research scientist Katie McDowell Peek were lead authors and collaborated with National Park Service scientists to produce the report released by Sally Jewell, U.S. secretary of the interior. The report estimates that national parks infrastructure and historic and cultural resources valued at more than $40 billion are at high risk of damage from sea-level rise caused by climate change.

The report is based on an examination of 40 parks – about one-third of those considered threatened by sea-level rise – and the survey is ongoing, Jewell said.

“Climate change is visible at national parks across the country, but this report underscores the economic importance of cutting carbon pollution and making public lands more resilient to its dangerous impacts,” Jewell said. “Through sound science and collaboration, we will use this research to help protect some of America’s most iconic places – from the Statue of Liberty to Golden Gate and from the Redwoods to Cape Hatteras – that are at risk from climate change.”

Almost 40 percent of the assets (the infrastructure and historic and cultural resources) in the 40 parks examined were put in a “high exposure” category because of their risk of damage from one meter of sea-level rise. That includes the assets at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina, where the current replacement value of the assets was listed at almost $1.2 billion.

WCU’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines has received several National Park Service grants in recent years to assist the agency in identifying resources threatened by sea-level rise and producing strategies for the preservation of the parks’ infrastructure and resources. The program in an internationally known advocate for science-based coastal management policies that consider and balance economic and environmental interests.
“We are honored that Western Carolina University is playing a major role in this process, which will help preserve these parks for the next generation of Americans,” Young said. “To no small degree, the protection of our nation’s coastal heritage is being guided from Cullowhee.”

A link to a Department of the Interior news release about the report can be found online at http://www.doi.gov/. The report is accessible through http://go.nps.gov/coastalassets.
For more information about WCU’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, visit http://psds.wcu.edu.