The Effects of Human Disturbances on National Parks

Imagine, you wake up to the sound of wildlife and of the wind blowing against your tent. You hear water flowing in the distance and you can feel the heat from the Utah sun passing through the fabric of your tent. You leave your tent and feel the 100 degree summer air; this is Zion National Park. 

National Parks are the foundation of Environmentalism. Although these areas are heavily regulated, they are the most biodiverse areas in our country. The importance of the National Parks is indescribable. 

So what are human disturbances, and how are they effecting our national parks?

Human disturbances can be defined as anything caused by humans activity that disrupts nature in some way. The other term used for this same concept is “anthropogenic climate change” and these terms can be used interchangeably. To truly understand what issues are being caused in the environment through human disturbances, we must first look at examples of what human disturbances are. In this context, human disturbances are anything in the realm of hiking, hunting, transportation/roadways, air and water pollution, or anything that can lead to climate change.

An issue caused by anthropogenic climate change on national parks is the degradation of the ozone layer over the national parks. The ozone layer goes through natural cycles of the concentration of ozone that are in sync with the changing seasons, but they also have a yearly peak and minimum

This issue has led to changes in forest vulnerability, and this is because of the inability of trees to adapt to extreme temperature changes. There is also a risk to the natural regeneration process of forests after a fire, and with increasingly higher temperatures and a longer dry season it is going to be increasingly difficult for these forests to recover from a major fire.

How does this effect the various species in National Parks?

Various species are effected by our constantly changing environment and the impacts are seen in various different ways. One major species that is effected is the Bark Beetle which resides in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is not the Bark Beetle itself that is being harmed by climate change, but it is the trees that the beetles are infesting—therefore potentially destroying entire forests. The Bark Beetle is a beneficial species to have in moderation, but in large quantities the Bark Beetle can be detrimental to forest ecosystems. The leading cause of outbreaks of this species is the increasing global temperature because this beetle thrives in warmer climates. The Bark Beetle has managed to completely change landscapes in both their structure as well as their function because they remove so many trees and completely alter the ecosystem as we know it.

Is the Bark Beetle the only non-plant species effected?

No! In addition to the Bark Beetle, another species impacted by the changing climate is a common migratory bird that lives in a national park in the Netherlands called Hoge Veluwe National Park. Although this bird is not from the United States National Parks, it is important because it represents a problem that is seen all around the world. The bird is called a European Pied Flycatcher, and it reproduces in Europe and—in the winter—in West Africa. The issue that these birds are facing is the change of timing of their natural processes due to changes in the climate Because of the increasing temperatures seen all around the world this bird has changed the pattern of all of its natural tendencies and even shortened some of these important dates as well. The typical dates of nest building, egg-laying, and more were all shifted to earlier times of the year

Do politics effect our national parks?

The 2018-2019 government shutdown had a tremendous impact on the national parks, and national geographic said it best with their opening statement, “National Parks are America's public lands, but right now they're America's trashcans,” (Gibbens, 2019). The government shutdown lasted 35 days—from December 22, 2018 until January 25, 2019—and it was the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. This impacted national parks because they are government-run, and with the government being shutdown national park workers were not being paid and therefore did not work.

What the shutdown meant for the environmental aspect of National Parks:

The parks in result of the government being shut down were open and free to the public to use without any supervision. People overusing the parks because of this issue caused an overflow of sewage in places like Joshua Tree National Park, littering in parks which caused harm to animals, walking off trails and camping in prohibited areas which caused both wildlife harm as well as human harm, and many other actions that harmed the landscape and the people and animals in it. The issues that the government shutdown are causing because of misuse of the parks are astronomical, and the article says that “Some [efforts] will take weeks or months. Some will last generations. Some may not be able to be fixed,” (Gibbens, 2019).

So what do we do from here?

National Parks are a treasure to the United States, but due to actions of humans and the climate change that we’re creating we could be compromising the most beautiful places in the country—and maybe even the world. Anthropogenic climate change has caused problems for everything from the plant life, animal life, and the ozone layer of national parks. The majority of climate change is caused by a variation of human disturbances whether it be hiking, littering, air/water pollution, and other harmful actions. In order to save our national parks we first have to understand that it is our own actions that are causing the degradation of these beautiful places. We have to take action in order to save these places and the resources inside them, and the only way to ensure the future of these natural spaces is to reconsider our environmental impact.

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