Obama says climate change already damaging national parks

President Barack Obama speaks by the Sentinel Bridge in the Yosemite Valley, in front of Yosemite Falls which is the highest waterfall in the park at Yosemite National Park, Calif., June 18, 2016. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the country’s national park system, the Obamas are visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico and Yosemite National Park in California. A large part of the protected land is a marine sanctuary located in the Pacific Ocean.

While in Yosemite with Michelle, Malia, and Sasha, Barack Obama spoke to reporters about the importance of protecting nature.

The White House has said the changing climate evidenced by droughts, increased flooding and wildfires and stronger storms has put national parks at risk.

Visits to national parks have surged due in part to lower gasoline prices.

Getting a free parks pass is greatly appreciated, said Eleanor Rodriguez, 65, who volunteered with her husband to chaperone their grandson’s summer school class to the park.

Obama’s weekend in the great outdoors was planned to encourage more people to appreciate and visit numerous nation’s parks. “We are not done yet”, Obama said.

Fabian Conejo, 8, is going into fourth grade. Obama said of Yosemite.

Since he took office, Obama said he is proud “to build on the work of all those giants who came before me to support our national resources and help all American get out into the great outdoors”. He was also pleased to see the president but disappointed he didn’t talk specifically about the bark beetle infestation which is destroying millions of trees in and around the park. He also told Bacon that he believed that the National Parks are “America’s best idea”. “It’s a park that captures the wonder of the world that changes you by being here”.

During a visit to California’s Yosemite National Park, the president said rising temperatures are causing Yosemite’s meadows to dry out and raising the prospect of a glacier preserve without its glaciers someday.

Temperatures inside the Big Room hold at a cool 56 degrees, in sharp contrast to the 100-degree heat baking the arid landscape that surrounds the national park, and Obama wore a jacket to ward off the slight chill. So reaching out to the young people is a very deliberate effort to create a love and a connection with the parks. “We can’t just be complacent, we have to be active in reaching out to the young people”.