Photo Credit: Amanda Lodge, from the top of Giant Mountain
In as little as one hundred years, the Adirondacks as we
know them today will no longer exist. In a lower emissions scenario, the park
will experience a climate that resembles West Virginia or Virginia by 2099; in
a higher emissions scenario, the park will experience a climate that resembles
Georgia or South Carolina by 2099. Not only will the ecology of the region
change, but so will the relationship between humans and the land.
Climate change will affect what species of trees and animals
are able to live within the blue lines. Species will soon be pushed out of
their habitats, the land unable to meet their needs and fulfill its prior role.
Winters will become shorter—eventually reaching a point of nonexistence—and the
skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, etc. the area is known for
will be a part of the past. As this shift in seasons occurs, the tourism
industry in the Adirondacks will have to focus on summer attractions throughout
most of the year.
Losing the current state of the Adirondacks will be a
tragedy, whether future generations recognize it or not. Over time, the harsh
winters and boreal forests of the park will exist only in print and image;
memories will fade as generations pass away. The Adirondacks will lose a large
part of what makes them so unique.
Even though it is difficult to make future predictions of
how the ecology of the park will change, the underlying principle remains the
same: climate change will force the Adirondacks to adopt a new identity.
Consider the human action behind this long-term disaster, and remember how the
mountains exist today, because they will never be the same again.
Sources:
Nature Guide to the Northern Forest by Peter J. Marchand
Nature Guide to the Northern Forest by Peter J. Marchand
The last line of your post, "remember how the mountains exist today, because they will never be same again," really struck me. It is so hard to imagine that in less than a century the Adirondacks of today will be a distant memory. I just wish this message could get through to more people who continue to deny climate change or argue that human technology will be able to compensate for it.
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