Golden Gate National Recreation Area believes in taking action to protect our shared environment and prevent future damage.
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 the 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.
The National Park Service and Golden Gate are taking action by reducing fossil fuel emissions, developing new land management strategies in the face of coming changes, and educating staff and visitors about solutions to this problem.
These strategies are outlined in our 2024 Climate Action Plan, as well as on the pages below.
