NPS PHOTO Ongoing climate change is unique in its magnitude, pace, and projected impacts. The atmosphere is like a blanket that surrounds the earth. When we burn fossil fuels for energy, we add carbon dioxide to this blanket, which is like thickening the blanket. The thicker a blanket gets, the more heat it traps underneath, which results in global warming and other disruptive effects. These changes include more extreme weather events, sea level rise, shifts in ocean circulation and chemisty, and increased drought stress. Just as these impacts can strengthen and amplify one another, the solutions to climate change also depend on everyone playing a role in responding with collective solutions. Climate change has already directly affected Gateway and will continue to do so in the future. In 2009, four years before Hurricane Sandy, the park released the report Long-Term Research Management Under a Changing Climate. This report documents many challenges faced by the park as a result of climate change, including increasing ecosystem resilience and protecting cultural and recreational resources from damage and loss. According to the report, there are four impacts of climate change that will most affect Gateway. These include:
Because Gateway is located primarily on the coastlines of major bodies of water, sea level rise is of particular concern because it will threaten cultural and natural resources. Infrastructure located on or near the shoreline will be in the most immediate danger, while ecosystems and habitats that exist in a delicate balance of water and land become vulnerable. Temperature and precipitation changes also disrupt this balance while threatening visitors and infrastructure at the parks. Finally, extreme weather events such as coastal storms, droughts, and wildfires have the potential to be more frequent and intense.
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Last updated: January 27, 2021