Climate change affects St. Croix site

As it celebrates its first 100 years of operation, the National Park Service (NPS) is making a concerted effort to address the impact of climate change on the areas under its care. In Maine, the NPS maintains two parks, Acadia National Park and St. Croix Island International Historic Site, both of which are already being affected as a direct result of the shifting climate.
While it remains a controversial issue in some circles, the effects are difficult to deny based on historical observations. In 2013, NPS Director John Jarvis stated in a memo to park superintendents that parks face "no greater challenge than climate change."
In St. Croix Island's case, park ranger Meg Scheid explains that the island is among the top candidates for soil erosion concerns. For years, scientists have been monitoring the erosion along the island's sandy banks, a process that has been steadily increasing as a result of storm surges, rains and waters that have risen eight inches in the past century. "Now we're doing the [erosion] measurements in metric tons," Scheid says. For Scheid and other park managers, it prompts the question: "What happens if critical cultural resources are exposed?"
It's not an easy question to answer. Throughout its history, the NPS has sought to avoid interfering with natural processes such as erosion. As a result, "Some parks are facing the loss of the very reason they were created," Abe Miller‑Rushing, science coordinator for Acadia National Park, says. "Joshua Tree National Park may no longer have Joshua trees, Glacier National Park may no longer have glaciers and the archeological remains of St. Croix Island may erode away."
Interdisciplinary workshops have been planned for parks that are most at risk, including one for St. Croix Island scheduled for this coming summer. The workshop will include experts across multiple fields, including coastal adaptation specialists, tribal historians, coastal engineers and geologists, all of whom will be coordinating to outline protocols and identify what, if any, actions should be taken.
The parks aren't the only parts of the environment that are being impacted by the changing climate, as Miller‑Rushing explains. Over the past 100 years, Maine's growing season has increased by two full months, and ice out in lakes has happened earlier and earlier. "We already have species in Acadia that wouldn't have been able to survive here a hundred years ago," he says. The recent rise in the deer tick population and the associated increase in Lyme disease have occurred in part because of the warmer climate.
While warmer weather is perhaps the best known facet of climate change, there are multiple factors at work. The ocean itself is warming, particularly in the Gulf of Maine, which is heating up 99% faster than other areas of the ocean due to its unique features and the influence of the fresher and warmer Labrador current, Miller‑Rushing says. As the ocean warms, the water expands, causing sea levels to rise. Based on a scenario planning workshop at Acadia, Miller‑Rushing and his colleagues anticipate seas could rise as much as three feet within 100 years, or between four inches and one foot by 2040.
As carbon dioxide dissolves into the atmosphere, the acidity of the ocean is increasing as well. "The pH [acidity] of the ocean is changing faster than it has in 300 million years," he says. "This affects you in the ocean if you have a shell or a bone, or if you like to eat anything that has either of those features."
The numerous changes are dramatically affecting sea life. Lobsters are moving northward, while some native birds are struggling to maintain their populations. As an example, Miller‑Rushing says that herring, the preferred fish of puffins, are no longer around at the right time, leading puffin parents to try to feed their chicks butterfish. Butterfish, however, are too big for the chicks to eat, causing them to starve to death even while surrounded by potential food.
The increased temperatures and higher sea levels have destabilized weather currents in general, leading to a greater number of storms. "What used to be very rare occurrences -- happening every 10 years or so -- are now annual events," Miller‑Rushing says. As a result, "What used to be considered extreme is now considered the norm."
However, not every year is sequentially warmer and wetter, making it more difficult for people to realize the impact of climate change, as Miller‑Rushing notes. "Even though our winters are getting warmer, last year we broke records for cold temperatures," he says.
Once the effects of climate change are recognized, it's easy for people to feel hopeless, Miller‑Rushing says. The worst thing people can do is ignore the problem. "Our world is changing. The way we can affect it is by having a voice." He urges residents to raise their concerns to local lawmakers and to vote on relevant policies. "Change your light bulbs. Use less fossil fuels. Every little bit helps." Burning wood from a managed tree lot where trees are being replanted helps to reduce the carbon footprint by enhancing the forest's ability to reabsorb carbon. "If we can move to a world where we're recapturing the carbon we released, that will slow the warming."