Pollution’s Effect on Vegetation

Many people are taking trips to Alaska to see the glaciers before they all melt from global warming. If viewing that kind of natural beauty before time runs out is on your bucket list, you may want to pay a visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park in northern Colorado, as well. No glacier melting here, but recent research has found that man-made air pollution may be killing off the indigenous vegetation that has always grown there.1

The study, by a team of scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder, found that nitrogen gases reach even the relatively remote regions of the park and have begun to set in motion changes that will eventually lead to the disappearance of the alpine plants unless some drastic measures are taken. This air pollution is created by the emissions of nearby vehicular traffic, power plants, and even agricultural machinery. >