The Greater Yellowstone area is facing two great threats – a rapidly warming climate and rapid population growth, says one of Montana State University’s leading scientists.
"We always look to the past and try to keep it the way it has been or try to fix it and put it back to what it used to be. Climate change is a challenge to that way of thinking."
Scientists have been predicting for years that fire activity in Yellowstone National Park is going to increase as the world gets warmer. Climate models predict more large fires and ballooning yearly burned acreage totals.
According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), we have less than 12 years to avert the consequences of catastrophic climate change, with worsening food shortages, rising sea levels, floods and wildfires.
