Canada's national parks threatened by climate change, new report says

Arctic expected to be hardest hit

  May 15/00 - Vancouver: The federal government must help protect Canada's world-renowned national parks from the threat of global warming, the David Suzuki Foundation said yesterday.
  A new Environment Canada and Parks Canada joint report released yesterday describes the effects climate change is expected to have on Canada's 38 majestic national parks. In some cases, global warming may make the parks uninhabitable to the species and ecosystems they were designed to protect.
 

Many plant and animal species living in national parks could face extinction because climate change may outpace their ability to adapt to changing temperatures and weather conditions.

  "It's clear that our parks simply can't adapt to the rate and magnitude of global warming that is expected," said Dr. David Suzuki. "Canada must change from being a laggard to a leader in the international effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
  "Climate change may forever change the character of the natural landscape, wildlife and entire ecosystems within many of Canada's national parks," said Dr. Suzuki. "Our parks are critical for habitat protection and tourism. If we do nothing to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming, we won't just lose plants and animals to extinction, we will lose our children's heritage."
  The David Suzuki Foundation, an official reviewer of the report, is calling on the federal government to take immediate and meaningful action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow global warming.
  The first study to look at all of a country's national parks, the report says climate change has the potential to erode decades of conservation efforts throughout Canada. The report is being released in Waterloo today at the 4th annual International Conference on Science and the Management of Protected Areas.
 

Canada's Arctic is likely to experience the most extreme changes, affecting food availability, migration patterns and the habitat of Arctic wildlife such as polar bears, seals and caribou

  Low-elevation glaciers in Banff National Park are melting rapidly and some could disappear in less than 20 years. Increased winter precipitation means snow packs will increase, threatening animals such as deer and elk. Deeper snow will make it more difficult for them to find food and force them to migrate down to the valleys where they are at a greater risk of dying from car and train collisions. Record low water levels in the Great Lakes could cause the wetland marshes in Ontario's Point Pelee National Park to dry out, threatening rare species such as the rose swamp mallow and spotted turtles. Nesting sites for waterfowl will become more accessible to predators.
  "I've been to many of our national parks, including Point Pelee and Banff," said Dr. Suzuki. "For many of the plants and animals living in these parks, life is a delicate balance. One more stress - this time from global climate change - leaves our parks extremely vulnerable."
  Serious threats face almost all of Canada's national parks. Many plant and animal species living in national parks could face extinction because climate change may outpace their ability to adapt to changing temperatures and weather conditions.

• Canada's Arctic is likely to experience the most extreme changes, affecting food availability, migration patterns and the habitat of Arctic wildlife such as polar bears, seals and caribou.

• The habitat of migratory shorebirds in Atlantic parks, including the endangered piping plover, may be threatened as sea levels rise and tidal flats shrink in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

• A wetland of international significance, the Peace-Athabasca Delta in Alberta's Wood Buffalo National Park, which contains the world's only natural breeding ground for the endangered whooping crane, is at risk.

• Rising temperatures may lead to greater rates of evaporation, drier soils and more drought in Prairie parks, affecting fish, waterfowl and wildlife. In northern areas, more forest fires could lead to grassland expansion.

• Boreal forests would shrink - and possibly shift as much as 100 to 700 kilometres to the north in response to climate change.

• In Pacific parks, warmer waters could affect the spawning and migration of salmon, which in turn would disrupt the feeding habits of bears and bald eagles.

• On the Gaspe Peninsula, changes in sea temperature and marine food supply could impact whale populations.

• Climate change impacts on wildlife will also seriously affect traditional Aboriginal life-styles.

[ Front Page ]