What now might be considered a "bad snow year" in Yellowstone National Park, one that limits snowmobile and snowcoach access, will in the not-too-distant future become the average snow year, according to a new study.

A study from the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service shows that thinning forests with prescribed fire can reduce the effects of drought. Climate change is expected to amplify drought conditions in California so using science to better understand the impacts of drought is of great importance to resource managers such as the National Park Service.

Examples of how climate change is impacting the National Park System from Everglades National Park in Florida to Bering Land Bridge National Preserve in Alaska were cited by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell this week to illustrate to a global audience the threats climate change poses.

With concerns that the Southwest's iconic Joshua trees will be pushed out of 90 percent of their current habitat by the century's end due to climate change, a group has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have the tree listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.