global warming | Public Parks

Heritage Farm at General Coffee State Park, Georgia. Hurricane damage will see the park closed until January 1.

Southeast state parks still recovering from Hurricane Helene (update)

November 8, 2024

Dozens of American state parks in the US Southeast are still closed to the public weeks after Hurricane Helene swept through the region. Meanwhile, another hurricane threatens the Gulf of Mexico but may be moving […]

Annual global surface air temperature anomalies (°C) relative to 1850–1900 from 1940 to 2024. The estimate for 2024 is provisional and based on data from January to October. Data source: ERA5.

Hottest year on record but little hope of breakthrough at climate talks following Trump win

November 8, 2024

After losing soundly and decisively to Joe Biden in 2020, Donald Trump will return to the White House in 2025 as American voters have soured on the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, yet another round of international […]

State parks still recovering from Hurricane Helene

October 28, 2024

Dozens of American state parks remain shuttered weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated vast swaths of the United States Southeast. The closures are in force in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, the states hardest hit by […]

An injured Sumatran tiger photographed by a camera trap.

Sumatra’s tigers are disappearing due to lack of protected habitat

October 25, 2024

Tigers on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia are disappearing due to an absence of conservation measures, ecologists are now warning. Ecologists surveying the population of tigers calling western Sumatra home said they’ve turned up […]

US state parks systems still reeling from inflation years, cost spikes

October 18, 2024

Inflation pressure in the United States has eased, but its impact on outdoor recreation lingers. A number of state park authorities across the US have confirmed to Public Parks that cost overruns are ...

The view from the summit of Mt. Philo State Park (the first park in the Vermont State Park system).

Celebrating 100 years, Vermont’s state park system ponders the future

October 18, 2024

Vermont’s legislature is poised to debate the future of Vermont State Parks as the system celebrates its 100th anniversary. Increasingly popular, Vermont’s network of 55 state parks finds itself at so...

A palm plantation in the middle of Colombia's Catatumbo rainforest.

Biodiversity crisis underscores the need for protected areas

October 18, 2024

Earth’s biodiversity has been decimated since the 1970s, a new study has revealed. The only thing that will save what’s left is the strong protection of more lands and waterways under strict conservat...

NOAA diver Keo Lopes conducts research on a reef amidst a school of giant trevally / ulua aukea (Caranx ignobilis) at Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

Marine protected areas barely protect 10% of coral reef fish—study

October 8, 2024

Conservation policies such as marine protected areas and enforced fishing restrictions barely cover 10% of global reef fish stocks worldwide, according to a new assessment. This is despite government ...

Gourdin Island near the Antarctic Peninsula.

The Antarctic Peninsula is “greening” at a faster clip

October 4, 2024

Global warming is seeing vegetation rapidly expanding on the Antarctic peninsula, scientists reported today. Their findings were published online this morning in the journal Nature Geoscience. Th...

A school of rainbow runners swimming near an atoll in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Hawaii.

Ocean no-fishing zones improve fishing success

August 6, 2024

Banning or heavily restricting fishing from certain areas actually enhances fishing nearby, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa said that a study of global mar...

Alberta's largest national park is closed due to a huge wildfire.

Jasper National Park closed by out-of-control fire

August 6, 2024

One of Canada’s most popular national parks is now closed to the public until further notice. Authorities are still struggling to contain a wildfire there that’s already claimed the life of one firefi...

Reef systems everywhere are threatened by climate change-induced coral bleaching events.

Coral bleaching events will get worse—study

July 3, 2024

Coral bleaching events are starting earlier, becoming more frequent, and are set to worsen over time, scientists are now warning. An assessment of recorded bleaching events, the climatic conditions th...