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Yellowstone is home to not only one of the most powerful volcanoes in the world, but is also the only place in the United States where large groups of wolves and bison roam freely. However, this will soon change for the snowy national park, with experts warning that rising global temperatures will soon put an end to this situation. Researchers who have spent years studying 8800 square kilometers say that the coming decades will see a decrease in snowfall, an increase in fires, a decrease in forests and grasslands.
Since 1948, the average annual temperature of the Great Yellowstone Ecosystem, which covers an area of 89,030 square kilometers in the State of Wyoming, has increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius.
With this, scientists say that the winter has been shortened by 10 days on average.
And this constant warming will bring about a dramatic change in Yellowstone National Park.
Patrick Gonzalez, a forest and climate scientist at the University of California at Berkeley, said, "For the Northern Rockies, the snowpack has fallen to its lowest level in eight centuries.
"When my daughter is an elderly woman, the climate will be as different for her as the last ice age seems to us."
In recent years, moose have migrated out of the park as there is less of a "green wave" – where greenery blooms in summer.
And where the elk go, the wolves follow, which means the ecosystem is also changing.
Andrew Hansen, of Montana State University, said: This is a very interesting mix of land use change and climate change, likely to lead to quite dramatic changes in the migration and thousands of elk on private land. "
Waterways are also being retreated, which will have a significant impact on the landscape of Yellowstone National Park.
Daniel Isaak of the US Forest Service told the New York Times that when the waters recede, the fish concentrate, allowing the diseases to spread more easily, which will contribute to their disappearance and that of larger animals. high in the food chain.
He added: "We can certainly see warming trends in summer and autumn.
"Stream flows and rivers are decreasing as the snowpack decreases."
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