Worcester Polytechnic Institute Digital WPI Interactive Qualifying Projects (All Years) Interactive Qualifying Projects June 2019 Climate Change in Acadia National Park Samantha Mary Evans Worcester Polytechnic Institute Victoria Cunningham Worcester Polytechnic Institute Yueqing Wang Worcester Polytechnic Institute Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/iqp-all Repository Citation Evans, S. M., Cunningham, V., & Wang, Y. (2019). Climate Change in Acadia National Park. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/iqp-all/5468 This Unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Interactive Qualifying Projects at Digital WPI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Interactive Qualifying Projects (All Years) by an authorized administrator of Digital WPI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Climate Change in Acadia National Park Victoria Cunningham Samantha Evans Yueqing Wang Advisor: Professor Frederick Bianchi June 27, 2019 This project report is submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree requirements of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions or opinions of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Abstract The problem addressed in this project is climate change in Acadia National Park and how the park can implement strategies to help mitigate and adapt to climate change. These strategies were presented in the form of five recommendations. These recommendations were made on the basis of research conducted as to what other National Parks are doing to mitigate and adapt to climate change. These suggestions cover the rising sea level, transportation in the park, the lack of educational programs, and plants and animals in the park. i Authorship The entire paper was edited and reviewed by each member of the team. The primary authors for each section are listed below according to their initials. Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………….SE Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………...SE YW List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………SE YW List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………….SE YW Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………..SE 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………...SE 2. Background 2.1 Discussion of Climate Change……………………………………………………..SE VC YW 2.2 Mitigation, Resilience. and Adaptation……………………………………………………...SE 2.3 Climate Change and the National Parks…………………………………………...SE VC YW 3. Methodology 3.1 Purpose……………………………………………………………………………………....SE 3.2 Climate Change Mitigation………………………………………………………………….SE 3.3 Climate Change Adaptation………………………………………………………………....SE 3.4 Objectives…………………………………………………………………………………....SE 3.5 Sea Level Rise……………………………………………………………………………....VC 3.6 Plants and Animals in the Park……………………………………………………………...SE 3.7 Carbon Emissions………………………………………………………….……………….YW 3.8 Education Plan……………………………………………………………………………...YW 3.9 Problems, Limitations, and Flaws…………………………………………………………...SE 4. Findings 4.1 Adaption……………………………………………………………………………………..SE 4.2 Sea Level Rise……………………………………………………………………………....VC 4.3 Plants and Animals in the Park……………………………………………………………...SE 4.4 Mitigation…………………………………………………………………………………....SE 4.5 Carbon Emissions…………………………………………………………………………..YW 4.6 Education Plan……………………………………………………………………………...YW 4.7 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………….SE ii 5. Conclusions and Recommendations 5.1 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………...SE 5.2 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………...SE 5.3 Adjust to the rising sea levels……………………………………………………………….VC 5.4 Limit the loss of plant and animal species in the park……………………………………....SE 5.5 Reduce carbon emissions from park vehicles……..……………………………………….YW 5.6 Develop an education plan………………………………………………………………....YW References…………………………………………………………………………….. SE VC YW iii Table of Contents Abstract i Authorship ii Table of Contents iv List of Figures vi List of Tables vii Executive Summary viii 1.Introduction 1 2. Background 3 2.1 Discussion of Climate Change 3 2.2 Mitigation, Resilience, and Adaptation 5 2.3 Climate Change and the National Parks 5 3. Methodology 13 3.1 Purpose 13 3.2 Climate Change Mitigation 13 3.3 Climate Change Adaptation 13 3.4 Objectives 14 3.5 Sea Level Rise 14 3.6 Plants and Animals in the Park 16 3.7 Carbon Emissions 17 3.8 Education plan 20 3.9 Problems, Limitations, and Flaws 21 4. Findings 23 4.1 Adaptation 24 4.2 Sea Level Rise 24 4.3 Plants and Animals in the Park 26 4.4 Mitigation 28 4.5 Carbon Emissions 28 4.6 Education plan 29 4.7 Summary 30 5. Conclusions and Recommendations 34 iv 5.1 Conclusion 34 5.2 Recommendations 34 5.3 Adjust to the rising sea levels. 35 5.4 Limit the loss of plant and animal species in the park. 36 5.5 Reduce carbon emission from park vehicles. 36 5.6 Develop an education plan. 37 References 39 v List of Figures Figure 1: The Greenhouse Effect………………………………………………………………….3 Figure 2: Map of Maine…………………………………………………………………………...6 Figure 3: Changes in Migratory Status of Bird Species…………………………………………..8 Figure 4: Changes in Global Land Temperatures by Decade…………………………………....11 Figure 5: Changes in Acadia Temperature by Decade…………………………………………..12 Figure 6: Sea Level is Rising…………………………………………………………………….16 Figure 7: Bus Routes in Acadia National Park…………………………………………………..18 Figure 8: Shuttle Bus Map in Zion National Park……………………………………………….20 Figure 9: Marshes around Acadia………………………………………………………………..26 vi List of Tables Table 1: Final Recommendations……………………………………………………………..…xii Table 2: Goals for this Project…………………………………………………………………...24 Table 3: Findings………………………………………………………………………………...31 Table 4: Recommendations for Acadia National Park………………………………………......35 vii Executive Summary This project examined Acadia National Park and the area surrounding it with the intent of making recommendations directed at addressing the effects of climate change. Acadia National Park is located primarily on Mount Desert Island in Maine, southwest of Bar Harbor. It is along the Atlantic coastline of the United States. This park is visited by over 3.3 million people a year and includes many hiking trails as well as provides activities for kids to learn more about the area and the importance of nature (“Acadia National Park” n.d.). Acadia is attempting to mitigate and adapt to the harmful effects of climate change in a variety of ways. They have had to implement a transportation plan to lessen the effects of higher visitor volume and their cars. Further, they have to anticipate the outcomes of heavy rainfall and observe how the current species of vegetation respond to the weather. The greatest difficulty for park ecologists is determining how they should manage the changing flora of the region—for example, would it be better to attempt to preserve the current species, anticipate what species will dominate in the future and prepare for that, or plant species that existed in the park in the past? The dominant species of plants will likely change as the temperatures increase and precipitation patterns change (Tocci, 2014). The goal of this project was to provide suggestions to Acadia National Park to allow them to better prepare for the effects of climate change. The suggestions were based on how other National Parks are responding to current climate change research. Although there are already efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, this project will be useful since it is coming from an outside source. It also could help many other national parks because although the recommendations are specifically for Acadia, they may still be applicable to many other national parks. The Friends of Acadia, a nonprofit organization that organizes volunteer efforts and private philanthropy for the benefit of Acadia National Park, may be able to use these suggestions to add to their work related to climate change. Along with National Parks, these suggestions could benefit many locations and even people in general since they are ways to mitigate and adapt to the effects of a global problem. Each person will be affected by climate change and these are ways to deal with and adjust to these changes. Since Bar Harbor and many other locations near Acadia will be affected in similar ways, they could use some of the suggestions provided to adapt and prepare. viii The three terms commonly associated with climate change and the discussion around it are mitigation, resilience, and adaptation. These terms represent three distinct approaches to the issue. Mitigation refers to a solution related to adjustment and management. An example of this is slowing the rate of global warming or lessening the effects of climate change. Resilience is finding ways to be more prepared in the future. An example of this is planning to ensure that natural resources can last in the future. Adaptation is different in that it focuses on adjusting to what is happening, but not changing what is actually happening. An example of adaptation is building walls to prevent the oceans from moving inland. This does not solve the issue, but instead adapts to the problem and finds a temporary solution. This project focused on mitigation and adaptation when providing suggestions to Acadia National Park.(“Mitigation,” n.d.). The project had four main objectives. The objectives of this project are listed below: 1. Adjust to the rising sea levels. 2. Limit the loss of plant and animal species in the park. 3. Reduce carbon emission from park vehicles. 4. Develop an education plan. By researching what other national parks
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