Climate Change
Climate change in this next century suggests global temperature increases beyond anything seen since the Ice Age. These changes will be responsible for species extinctions and drastic changes in our landscapes. We are already witnessing increased drought, extreme weather events, wildland fires, insect outbreaks, and changes in wildlife habitat.
EcoFlight works specifically to document these landscape changes and the increase in the beetle kill in our pine forests throughout the Rocky Mountains as the temperature gradient increases. There are ways we can manage our national lands that could help mitigate some of the changes posed by global warming, through alternative energy development and through providing needed wildlife habitat and migration corridors to help species adapt to a changing climate.
EcoFlight also works with the Forest Service and Fire Management experts on how modern fire management can be and should be applied to allow fires to burn naturally to do their part in restoring the landscapes, when not a threat to people or property.
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State: Wyoming Region: Jackson Description: EcoFlight's 2009 Flight Across America Student Program studied the pine beetle infestation occurring in the Rocky Mountain region, specifically in Colorado and Wyoming. |
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State: Colorado Description: Colorado's distinctive lodgepole pine trees are under attack from a beetle infestation described by scientists as a "perfect storm" which could destroy 90% of the western American state's pine forests. |
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State: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah Region: Four Corners: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah Description: Existing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Four Corners region total 29 million tons per year of CO2. With the increased recognition of the impacts of CO2 as a major contributor to climate change and the formation of the New Mexico Climate Change Advisory Group, it is imperative that CO2 emissions be reduced in the Four Corners region. |
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State: Montana, Wyoming Description: The whitebark pine is the main pine tree found at high elevations throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. A beetle epidemic that's killing trees across the Rocky Mountain region has taken an especially heavy toll on whitebark pine trees in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. |
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State: Montana Region: Glacier National Park Description: In Glacier National Park, there were approximately 150 glaciers present in 1850, and most glaciers were still present in 1910 when the park was established. In 2010, there were only 25 glaciers larger than 25 acres remaining in the park. |
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State: Montana Description: This remote beautiful landscape, with 149 miles of the Missouri River corridor designated as a National Wild and Scenic River, has begun to be recognized as a national treasure. |
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State: New Mexico Region: northwestern New Mexico Description: Chaco National Historical Park is designated as a World Heritage Site and is one of the finest examples of Puebloan culture centers in the southwest United States, yet it too is impacted by intensive energy development. |
