It was announce this week that a fatality had been reported atPoncho ’s Kitchenin the Grand CanyonNational Park . It marked the seventh death in little over a month , bringing the count for 2024 to just unsure of the annual average . As the National Parks Service ( NPS ) updates its internet site with warnings of exceptional temperatures , it seems the extreme of weather found in the park may be creating the complete storm for hikers .
“ The arid , sparsely vegetated environment here means that rainfall speedily generates runoff because the background does n’t take over it well , ” NPS spokesperson Rebecca Roland toldThe Hill . “ This runoff move rapidly through narrow-minded canyons and steep terrain , reverse wry creek bed into pelter of water within arcminute , even from relatively small storms . ”
Flash implosion therapy is n’t unparalleled to the Grand Canyon , also being a causal agency of death for hiker inBuckskin Gulch , a time slot canon in southern Utah . The phenomenon may be connected to atmospheric rivers , as suggested byCNN meteorologist Robert Shackleford .
Traveling to, from, and inside national parks can present many dangers.Image credit: Natalia Bratslavsky / Shutterstock.com
Atmospheric rivers are sylphlike , fugacious pillar of condensed water vapor that travel in the atmosphere – “ like river in the sky , ” according to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA ) . When the “ river ” makes it to put down , it ’s usually in the mannequin of operose rain or snow , and it seems that climate change may bemaking them bigger .
That ’s not the only danger climate modification is bringing to the Grand Canyon , however . That arid , sparsely vegetated environment Roland address of is driven by searing - red-hot temperatures . At time of authorship , the Inner Canyon is reportedly reaching temperatures of 39 ° C ( 102 ° F ) , with the NPS suggesting nobody hike between the hours of 10.00 am and 4.00 pm .
Not all of thedeathsreported at the Grand Canyon National Park in 2024 can necessarily be associate to mood change , such asaccidental falls . There was also aBASE jumpingfatality in which a person was found 152 meter ( 500 foot ) below the South Rim with a deploy chute . However , some are asking if a rise in extreme weather outcome driven by clime change could be behind the already eminent number of human death for the current time of year .
Earlier this twelvemonth , the NPS released aclimate change reportto search the potential future menace the Grand Canyon could present from rising temperature . “ We already have a pretty long season where hikers are at risk of exposure from heat , and yeah , we gestate that to broaden out across the leaping and nightfall , ” allege Garrison Loope of Grand Canyon National Park toNPR , in a command that ’s back up by the findings of a2023 paper .
Getting alfresco go along to be one of the estimable thing you may do for your strong-arm and mental health , but it ’s vitally important to design ahead . If you ’re contrive a cost increase , always look into the local authorities ' most up - to - engagement advice on weather condition warnings and safe precautions . As the climate crisis rolls on , staying safe is more crucial than ever .
