This is no time for hand-wringing. But government officials, hobbled by seven years of Bush administration foot-dragging, have been left to do little else as climate change ravages public lands.
Insects are destroying trees; wildfire is rampant; flooding and drought unprecedented; tourism at risk. Yet federal government remains befuddled.
Multiple reports released the last two weeks describe a government crawling in the face of accelerating physical, biological, economic and social effects linked to climate change:
Despite a 2001 order to analyze potential effects of global warming, the agencies that manage the nation's parks, forests, oceans and monuments - a third of U.S. land - have received "limited guidance" on what to do, the Government Accountability Office reported Sept. 6.
The U.S. Geological Survey concluded Sept. 7 that future reduction in Arctic sea ice would result in the loss of two-thirds of the world's polar bear population within 50 years, including all bears in Alaska. Yet the government hasn't decided whether to even list the bears as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. It took a lawsuit by environmental groups just to extract an official admission of a problem.
And on Thursday, President Bush's "Climate Change Science Program," created in 2002 to improve federal climate research, was found lacking. While the research did answer some questions, it suffered repeated delays and stumbled when key satellites and monitoring equipment were defunded, said the National Research Council, an arm of the eminent National Academies. Useful findings weren't conveyed to key players: local officials, farmers, water managers and others potentially affected by climate shifts.
While Europe and other countries focus on mitigating and adapting to global warming, the United States flounders, years behind. It's vital to catch up.
Public lands are increasingly vulnerable to changing weather patterns, insect infestation, and wildlife migration related to global warming. Seas are subject to coral bleaching and changes in pH balance. Yet mitigation planning in agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hasn't been a priority.
National parks particularly showcase risk. Joshua trees are disappearing from Joshua National Park; Mount Rainier and Glacier National Parks soon may have no glaciers; and sea-level rise threatens the Everglades.
At the same time, parks can offer solutions, says the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group. For example, parks can become corridors to enable plants and animals to shift their range northward as the climate warms. They're valuable laboratories to study species interaction and the use of renewable energy.
The discussion over whether the atmosphere is warming is over. The government should move on to figuring out how increased temperatures will affect Earth's inhabitants and what to do about it.
It's time to put hands to work.