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Assateague Island National Seashore

Under Water And Under Pressure

The National Park Service is facing a water conundrum: some parks have too little, some parks have too much. While an historic drought continues to parch much of the Western United States, a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association predicts that sea levels across the United States will rise, on average, 10-12 inches by 2050. In other words, from Maine to Florida to Texas and all the way up to Alaska, there are more than 100 national park units threatened by the slow siege of rising coastlines.

National Parks Traveler Episode 81: Yosemite Turns Into Assateague, And Species Extinction

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In this week’s show, we question whether national parks can serve as a barrier to slow the sixth mass extinction. 

Certainly, the large landscape parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite and Grand Canyon offer the habitat many species require. But parks are slowly being hemmed in by development, making it harder and harder for species to follow their natural paths across the landscape. 

So can they slow the sixth mass extinction? We’re going to be taking a look at that in the coming weeks and months, and today we’ll lay out that proposal in an essay.

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