Climate Change ‘Magic’: Disappearing Lakes and Reappearing Artifacts

In the summer of 1999, artist Hamish Fulton took a hike through the icefields of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST). One highlight of his journey was a traverse near Iceberg Lake on the Bagley Icefield. Imagine his surprise when he crested a low pass expecting to see the lake, but all that remained was a small creek emerging from the melting terminus of a small alpine glacier. Icerberg Lake had disappeared. While in another area of WRST, scientists were discovering rare archeological materials melting from ancient glaciers. How and why these events happened is covered in the latest issue of Alaska Park Science.

The tenth issue of Alaska Park Science, entitled “Scientific Studies on Climate Change in Alaska’s National Parks,” focuses on current trends and evidence of climate change. If future projections hold true, the ecological and societal effects of climate change will be considerable in the twenty-first century. National parks offer unique opportunities to study climate change in large, natural ecosystems.

“Sharing what we have learned in our research is essential,” said National Park Service Alaska Regional Director,” Marcia Blaszak.. “Vulnerable resources are being monitored in many Alaska parks and several have researchers who are specifically addressing climate change impacts.”


Articles in this issue include:

* Arrange for Change: Interpreting the Science of Climate Change in National Parks

* Melting Denali: Effects of Climate Change on the Glaciers of Denali National Park and Preserve

* A Changing climate: Consequences for Subsistence Communities

* The Frozen Past of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

* A Disappearing Lake Reveals the Little Ice Age History of Climate and Glacier Response in the Icefields of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preseve

* Post Little Ice Age Glacial Rebound in Glacier Bay National Park and Surrounding Areas

* Visualizing Climate Change – Using Repeat Photography to Document the Impacts of Changing Climate on Glaciers and Landscapes

Alaska Park Science is a semi-annual journal that shares what resource managers are learning in Alaska's national parks through the study of their vital cultural and natural resources. Some of the best places in the country have been chosen as parks. These places are landscapes and historic shrines in which we feel wonder, reverence, respect - and responsibility. In the future, national parks may tell the story of our collective success in dealing with climate change.

You can find out more on the website of Alaska Park Science.

It is also for sale at Alaska Natural History Association bookstores located in Alaska's national parks, Alaska Public Lands Information Centers, the maps store at the United States Geologic Survey offices on the Alaska Pacific University campus and via this weblink.