Sunday, December 8, 2013

National Parks Service and IU's Eppley Institute develop climate change videos

The Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands, the National Park Service’s Interpretive Development Program, and the NPS Climate Change Response Program (CCRP) have produced three videos that illustrate the impacts of climate change on national parks. 

The videos were filmed on location at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Everglades National Park, and Kenai Fjords National Park by IU Professor Emeritus Ron Osgood and cameraman Matt Bockelman, with assistance from NPS park ranger Matt Holly and staff members from each park. 

Available on the CCRP website, the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park video explores species loss, precipitation, and fire; the Everglades National Park video explores sea level rise; and the Kenai Fjords National Park video explores glacial changes. A fourth video, produced by the CCRP office in Washington, DC, is also available on the site. It explores phenology and citizen science at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

These videos are part of planned training that is aimed at NPS interpreters presenting programs on climate change. This training is currently under development and should be available in 2014. Additional videos for this training are also being completed by the CCRP office in Washington, DC.