National Parks are climate change "warning system"

The Christian Science Monitor reports on how the nation's national parks are a "warning system" for the effects of global warming.

The Joshua Tree (pictured left) and its iconic twisted branches that symbolize the self-named park is disappearing because of drought conditions.

Global climate change is “the single greatest threat to the health of our national parks,” says Michael Cipra, California desert program manager of the National Parks Conservation Association.

According to researchers, climate change is contributing to:

• The possible loss of all the glaciers in the Glacier National Park within 20 years.

• Dying coral reefs in Biscayne and Virgin Island National Parks due to increased heat and disease.

• Insect pests thriving and destroying forests ranging from the Great Smoky Mountains to Yellowstone.

• Declining water levels at Lake Mead because of extended droughts.

Read the full story: How climate change may be threatening national parks