Climate change is threatening to submerge the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Pres. Obama warned Monday in a speech at Yosemite National Park.
Climate change is also causing birds to fly north when the weather gets hot, Obama cautioned:
“Make no mistake, climate change is no longer just a threat, it’s already a reality. I was talking to some of the rangers here -- here in Yosemite, meadows are drying out. Bird ranges are shifting farther northward. Alpine mammals like pikas are being forced farther upslope to escape higher temperatures. Yosemite’s largest glacier, once a mile wide, is now almost gone. We’re also seeing longer, more expensive, more dangerous wildfire seasons -- and fires are raging across the West right now. I was just in New Mexico yesterday, which is dealing with a big wildfire, just like folks here in California and four other states –- all while it’s still really early in the season.”
As a result, rising seas threaten to engulf “icons like the Statue of Liberty,” Obama said:
“As we look ahead, in the coming years and decades, rising temperatures could mean no more glaciers at Glacier National Park. No more Joshua Trees at Joshua Tree National Park. Rising seas could destroy vital ecosystems in the Everglades, and at some point could even threaten icons like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.”