Category: Biodiversity

National Parks at Risk: How Privatization Could Speed Up Climate Change

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Yosemite Valley, among the trees.
Yosemite Valley, among the trees, in June 2023. Credit: Diana Bald

America’s national parks are powerful and beautiful. They are scenic vacation spots and part of our shared heritage. They are home to countless wildlife species and natural protectors against climate change. Recently, concerns have grown about privatization—the idea of private companies taking over or managing aspects of our national parks. Why does this matter? Privatization could change how these lands are cared for, possibly speeding up climate change and limiting public access.

Below we’ll share what privatization is, why it’s happening, and how it might put our parks—and our planet—at risk. You’ll learn about potential harm to wildlife and ecosystems and see how private profit-seeking might increase carbon pollution. Finally, we’ll look at the different sides of the debate and share ways you can help protect these treasures for future generations.

What Is National Park Privatization?

Privatization of national parks means involving private companies in running parts of a park—or, in more extreme cases, selling park land. While the second option is very rare and highly controversial, there are other, more common ways private interests can step in.

  • Concessions: This is when private businesses manage hotels, restaurants, campgrounds, or gift shops inside a national park. A company might build and operate a lodge while paying fees to the government.

  • Public-Private Partnerships: The government owns the park but hires or partners with a private operator to handle daily services, like cleaning facilities or running visitor centers.

  • Outright Sale: In uncommon situations, park land could be sold to a private entity, meaning it is no longer publicly owned.

Why It’s Happening

Many parks have significant funding gaps. According to the National Park Service (NPS), national parks in the United States face an estimated $11.9 billion maintenance backlog, meaning there’s a lot of work that needs to be done—like fixing roads, upgrading water systems, and repairing trails—but not enough money to do it all. Some people believe private companies can fill this gap by bringing in their own funds and running things more efficiently.

Why Do People Worry About Privatization?

Privatization sometimes gives private businesses room to push for more development—like building bigger hotels or even introducing commercial activities in delicate areas. This can mean fewer trees to absorb carbon dioxide, more greenhouse gas emissions from construction, and more energy use to support amenities like large resorts (Source: National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)).

Loss of Public Control

Our national parks belong to all of us. When for-profit companies take a bigger role, everyday citizens can lose their say in how these lands are used. Government agencies like the National Park Service aim to protect wildlife, natural beauty, and our shared heritage. Private companies have a duty to earn profits. These two goals don’t always line up.

Risk of High Prices and Limited Access

Private businesses often raise fees to cover costs and make a profit. That might include higher prices for overnight stays, guided tours, or even basic park entry. Imagine a scenario where only those who can pay premium rates get to enjoy our national treasures. That kind of setup could exclude families on a budget or students looking to learn about nature firsthand.

How Could Privatization Speed Up Climate Change?

Privately built hotels, roads, and resorts can encroach on forests or wetlands that store carbon. Removing trees or filling in wetlands releases carbon that was previously locked away in plants and soil, adding to the greenhouse gases warming our planet.

When privatization weakens environmental protections, there’s a chance that companies will seek permission to mine, drill, or log on public lands near or even within parks. Extracting natural resources not only increases carbon emissions but also disrupts critical habitats for animals and plants.

A private operator looking for higher profits might want to draw large crowds. More visitors can be wonderful for education and appreciation, but it can also mean more cars, heavier traffic, and longer lines, all leading to additional exhaust fumes and higher greenhouse gas emissions.

Harm to Wildlife and Ecosystems

Big developments like roads, fences, or commercial sites can cut wildlife habitats into smaller pieces. When animals can’t move around freely to find food or migrate, their populations may decline. This fragmentation makes ecosystems more fragile and less able to bounce back from natural disasters linked to climate change.

Reduced Biodiversity

National parks often safeguard a vast range of plant and animal species. Overbuilding, pollution, and noise can push away or endanger species—leading to a drop in biodiversity. Healthy ecosystems rely on a balance of predators, prey, and plants. When that balance is lost, the entire system can unravel.

Less Resilient Ecosystems

Forests, wetlands, and grasslands inside parks help lessen the worst impacts of climate change by storing carbon, stabilizing soils, and buffering against floods. If these areas become fragmented or polluted, they can’t protect us as effectively from the rising threats of wildfires, severe storms, or droughts (Source: United Nations Environment Programme).

Different Sides of the Argument

We’re stunned by the concept of loosing national parks that belong to all of us to private ownership of a few. Privatization supporters argue that private companies could bring much-needed funding, potentially fix aging facilities, and even offer new innovations—like using clean energy in park buildings. They also point out that private partnerships might generate jobs for local communities. Critics worry that a focus on profit could weaken conservation efforts, possibly leading to higher entrance fees that shut out families or lower-income visitors. They also warn that private operators may not face the same level of public oversight, which could make environmental regulations harder to enforce.

Arguments For Privatization

  • May bring more money to fix trails, roads, and park facilities.
  • Could create jobs in local communities, especially around tourism.
  • Potential for private innovation, such as using solar power in new building projects if the contract requires it.

Arguments Against Privatization

  • Profit motives overlook long-term conservation and climate goals.
  • Increased fees could limit public access and make visiting too expensive for many people.
  • Less accountability and oversight mean environmental standards may not be enforced strictly.

Actions Concerned Citizens Can Take

You don’t need a science degree or a powerful position to help protect our parks. Here are some ways you can make a difference:

  • Stay Informed
  • Speak Up
    • Contact your elected officials—call, email, or meet them at a town hall—and share your concerns about privatization proposals.
    • Write letters to local newspapers or post on social media to raise awareness.
  • Support Public Funding
    • Advocate for strong public budgets for parks. For instance, the Great American Outdoors Act helps fund maintenance and conservation projects without relying solely on private money.
    • Encourage your community to vote in favor of bond measures or other funding initiatives that keep parks public and well-maintained.
  • Volunteer and Donate
    • Donate to nonprofits dedicated to conservation and biodiversity.
    • Look for volunteer programs in local or national parks, where you can help maintain trails or educate visitors about conservation.

Final Thoughts

National parks belong to everyone. While privatization might seem like a quick fix to budget problems, it can have serious effects on our climate and on the health of these special places. Private operators could prioritize profits over the long-term well-being of wildlife and ecosystems, leading to more carbon emissions and less public involvement.

By staying informed, speaking up, and supporting strong public funding, you can help protect national parks for generations to come. Your voice matters in deciding how these natural wonders should be cared for. With a little effort, we can make sure our parks remain open, wild, and resilient in a changing climate—leaving a healthy legacy for those who come after us.

Sources

The Future of Chocolate is in Danger: How Climate Change is Harming West Africa’s Cocoa Farms

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A close-up of cacao pods hanging from a tree branch. One pod is green and healthy, while the other is yellowed. The tree’s bark is rough, surrounded by green leaves.
A close-up of cacao pods hanging from a tree branch. One pod is green and healthy, while the other is yellowed. The tree’s bark is rough, surrounded by green leaves. Credit: Tope A. Asokere on Pexels.

The Chocolate Crisis You Didn’t See Coming

Imagine walking into your favorite store, craving a bar of smooth, rich chocolate, only to find that prices have skyrocketed—or worse, your favorite brand is no longer available. It sounds extreme, but this could be the reality in the not-so-distant future. West Africa produces 70% of the world’s cacao, the key ingredient in chocolate, but climate change is making it harder to grow. Rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and increasing crop diseases are threatening cacao farms.

This isn’t just bad news for chocolate lovers. Millions of farmers depend on cacao to feed their families and support their communities. If cacao production continues to decline, their livelihoods—and the world’s chocolate supply—are at risk.

Where Does Chocolate Come From? (And Why Should You Care?)

Most of us don’t think about where chocolate comes from—we just enjoy it. But before that delicious bar reaches your hands, it starts as a pod growing on a delicate cacao tree.

Cacao trees thrive in warm, humid climates, but there’s a catch—they can’t handle extreme heat. The ideal temperature for cacao trees is below 32°C (89.6°F), and anything hotter can start causing serious problems.

The biggest producers of cacao—Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria—rely on these trees for their economies. More than 9 million farmers and workers depend on cacao farming to survive. But now, climate change is pushing temperatures past safe levels, and cacao trees are suffering.

Rising Temperatures Are Hurting Cacao Farms

Cacao trees have been growing in West Africa for centuries, but in recent years, farmers have noticed something disturbing: it’s getting too hot for their crops.

  • Since 2015, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have had 40 extra days per year where temperatures rise above 32°C.
  • In 2024, 71% of cacao-producing areas experienced six extra weeks of extreme heat.

Why does this matter? Because excessive heat weakens cacao trees.

  • Too much heat reduces photosynthesis, slowing growth and lowering cacao yields.
  • Cacao pods shrivel up or grow smaller, reducing the amount of chocolate that can be made.
  • Farmers are losing money, and global chocolate prices are rising.

One farmer in Côte d’Ivoire described it best:

The leaves used to protect our cacao pods from the sun. Now, they fall off too soon, and the pods dry out before we can harvest them.

The result? Lower quality cacao, smaller harvests, and more expensive chocolate.

Too Much Rain, Then Not Enough

If rising temperatures weren’t bad enough, cacao trees now face another major problem: wildly unpredictable rainfall.

Cacao farming depends on steady, well-distributed rain—about 1,500 to 2,000 mm per year. But thanks to climate change, rainfall has become chaotic:

  • In July 2024, Côte d’Ivoire received 40% more rain than expected. Farms flooded, cacao pods rotted, and entire crops were lost.
  • In December 2024, some regions received almost no rain. Without water, cacao trees wilted, and pods stopped growing.

It’s a double disaster: too much rain drowns the crops, too little leaves them starving. Farmers can’t predict when to plant or harvest, and each year gets more uncertain.

It’s Not Just the Weather, There are Other Threats to Cacao Farming

As if extreme heat and unpredictable rainfall weren’t enough, cacao farmers face even more obstacles.

Pests & Diseases Are Spreading Faster Than Ever

Warmer temperatures help pests thrive, especially mealybugs, tiny insects that spread the deadly Cacao Swollen Shoot Virus (CSSV).

  • 600,000 hectares of cacao farms in Ghana were infected with CSSV in 2023.
  • This disease alone caused a 17% drop in Ghana’s cacao production.

When cacao trees get infected, they stop producing pods and eventually die. Farmers are losing entire farms to this disease, and finding ways to stop it is difficult.

Smuggling & Illegal Mining are Stealing Cacao Farmers’ Livelihoods

Cacao farming is already tough work, but low wages are forcing some farmers to sell their crops to smugglers or even give up farming entirely.

  • Ghana lost 160,000 tons of cacao to smugglers in the 2023/2024 season—three times more than the previous year.
  • Some farmers are leasing their land to illegal miners because mining pays better than farming.

The problem? Mining damages the land, making it impossible to farm cacao again. Once a farmer gives up their land, they may never be able to return to growing cacao.

Can Anything Be Done? Yes—But It Will Take Effort.

Despite these challenges, there are solutions that can help protect cacao farming. Here’s what’s being done:

Planting Shade Trees (Agroforestry)

  • Farmers are planting taller trees, like banana, mango, and cashew, to protect cacao from extreme heat.
  • These trees cool down cacao farms and improve soil moisture.

Fighting Pests & Disease

  • Scientists are working on disease-resistant cacao trees to fight CSSV.
  • Better pest management techniques could reduce losses by 17% per year.

Fair Trade & Financial Support

  • Programs that pay farmers fair wages reduce smuggling and illegal mining.
  • More financial support means farmers can afford climate adaptation strategies.

These solutions are helping, but they need global support to make a real impact.

You might be wondering—what can I actually do? Here are some ideas:

  • Choose ethical chocolate by looking for Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, or Direct Trade labels. These brands support sustainable cacao farming and fair wages for farmers.
  • Support reforestation projects. Some groups help plant shade trees on cacao farms to protect crops from climate change. Supporting these efforts helps cacao trees survive extreme weather.
  • Tell your friends and family about this issue.

Final Thoughts

Chocolate isn’t just a treat—it’s a lifeline for millions of farmers. But if climate change continues at this rate, chocolate could become a rare luxury. The good news? We still have time to act. By choosing sustainable chocolate, supporting reforestation, and spreading awareness, we can help protect cacao farming for generations to come.

Source: Climate Central. (2025, February 12). Climate change is heating up West Africa’s cocoa belt. Climate Central. Retrieved from https://www.climatecentral.org/

Glacial Floods, Climate Change, and What the U.S. Can Learn from the Himalayas Disaster

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Field evidence of sediment aggradation.
Field evidence of sediment aggradation. (A to F) Photographs taken along the Teesta River show the aggradation of the sediments transported by the flood cascade and its impact. Latitude, longitude, and elevation (in m a.s.l) are at top right; locality name and distance from SLL are at bottom right. Photo credits: Praful Rao (study co-author).

A Disaster Unfolds

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to a roaring wall of water crashing through your town. That’s what happened in Sikkim, India, on October 3, 2023. A glacial lake high in the Himalayas burst suddenly, sending a flood of 50 million cubic meters of water rushing downstream. Villages were washed away, bridges collapsed, and a massive hydropower dam was completely destroyed.

The flood traveled 385 kilometers, even reaching parts of Bangladesh. This was no ordinary flood—it was a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), a type of disaster that’s becoming more frequent as the planet warms.

What Caused the Flood?

At the heart of this disaster was South Lhonak Lake, one of the fastest-growing glacial lakes in the Himalayas. Scientists have been watching it for years, warning that its natural dam—made of ice and rock—was getting weaker.

Then, the worst happened:

  • A 14.7-million cubic meter chunk of frozen land collapsed into the lake.
  • This triggered a 20-meter-high wave—as tall as a six-story building.
  • The wave smashed through the natural dam, sending a torrent of water and debris barreling down the valley.

Think of it like a bathtub overflowing, except instead of a few gallons of water, it was millions of tons rushing out all at once.

The Impact: Lives, Land, and Infrastructure Lost

The destruction was swift and brutal:

  • 55 people lost their lives, and 74 are still missing.
  • More than 7,000 people were displaced, their homes and villages washed away.
  • 31 bridges, 25,900 buildings, and 276 square kilometers of farmland were destroyed.
  • The flood carried away 270 million cubic meters of sediment—enough to fill 100,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Entire communities were left without power, food, or clean water, and the road to recovery is long.

The Role of Climate Change

So, why did this happen? The simple answer: climate change.

  • The South Lhonak Glacier has been melting faster than ever, losing 0.58 meters of ice every year.
  • The lake it feeds has grown dramatically in the past few decades.
  • Warming permafrost (frozen soil) is making mountain slopes unstable, increasing the risk of landslides and dam failures.

This isn’t just a Sikkim problem—glaciers around the world are melting at record speeds, putting millions of people at risk.

Could This Happen Again?

Unfortunately, yes. Scientists warn that South Lhonak Lake is still unstable.

  • The natural dam is eroding, making another flood likely.
  • Riverbanks weakened by the last flood could collapse, leading to more destruction.
  • Extreme rainfall—which is increasing due to climate change—could trigger another disaster.

And it’s not just Sikkim—other glacier-fed lakes in the Himalayas, the Andes, and even North America are showing similar warning signs.

Why This Matters

If you think this is just a distant problem, think again. The same climate forces that caused the Sikkim flood are also affecting other mountainous regions worldwide.

Melting Glaciers Are a Global Issue

Glaciers are retreating in Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Northwest. As ice melts at a faster rate, more glacial lakes are forming, increasing the chances of floods like the one in Sikkim. If we don’t prepare, communities in mountainous regions of the U.S. could face similar disasters.

U.S. Disasters Are Increasing

The 2022 Yellowstone flood destroyed roads, bridges, and homes, forcing many residents to evacuate. In California, record-breaking storms and floods are becoming more frequent, causing billions in damage. Extreme weather events—whether floods, hurricanes, or wildfires—are getting stronger, deadlier, and harder to predict.

Our Infrastructure Is at Risk

Just like the Teesta-III dam in Sikkim collapsed, many worldwide dams, roads, and power plants are vulnerable to extreme weather. Many of these structures were built decades ago and weren’t designed to handle the kinds of disasters we’re seeing today.

We Can Learn

By taking action now, the U.S. can prevent similar disasters:

  • Invest in early warning systems—monitor unstable lakes and glaciers.
  • Upgrade infrastructure—build flood-resistant bridges and roads.
  • Plan for extreme weather—ensure communities are prepared for disasters.

Preventing Another Tragedy

While we can’t stop glaciers from melting overnight, we can take steps to reduce the damage.

Early Warning Systems (EWS)

Science and technology give us powerful tools to predict disasters before they happen. Governments and scientists must monitor unstable lakes and glaciers using satellites, sensors, and AI-driven models. These systems can detect early signs of danger, giving communities valuable time to evacuate before disaster strikes. Investing in real-time alerts and community education could save thousands of lives.

Building Stronger Infrastructure

We need to rethink how we design bridges, roads, and power plants. Structures built decades ago were not designed to handle the kinds of extreme weather we’re facing today. Engineers and policymakers must ensure that new infrastructure is flood-resistant and that existing structures are reinforced to withstand future disasters. This kind of investment is expensive, but the cost of doing nothing is far greater.

Preparing for Disasters

Education and preparation can mean the difference between life and death. Governments and communities must train people on emergency evacuation plans and improve international cooperation to respond to climate disasters. Since floods and other extreme weather events are increasing, being prepared is no longer optional—it’s essential.

Addressing Climate Change at Its Root

At the core of these disasters is a warming planet. To slow down glacial melting, we need to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Governments, businesses, and individuals can all play a role by switching to clean energy sources, reducing waste, and advocating for policies that combat climate change. These actions will protect glaciers, and help stabilize global weather patterns.

A Wake-Up Call

The Sikkim flood wasn’t just a freak event—it was a preview of what’s to come if we don’t act now. The good news? We still have time to prepare. By investing in early warning systems, better infrastructure, and climate solutions, we can reduce the risk of future disasters—both in the Himalayas and here at home.

Source: Sattar, A., Cook, K. L., Rai, S. K., Berthier, E., Allen, S., Rinzin, S., Van Wyk de Vries, M., Haeberli, W., Kushwaha, P., Shugar, D. H., Emmer, A., Haritashya, U. K., Frey, H., Rao, P., Gurudin, K. S. K., Rai, P., Rajak, R., Hossain, F., Huggel, C., … Younis Bhat, S. (2025). The Sikkim flood of October 2023: Drivers, causes, and impacts of a multihazard cascade. Science.