Dramatic temperature rises registered at national park
Year on year temperature increases of up to four degrees centigrade have been discovered at an Austrian national park.Upper Austrian Peoples Party (ÖVP) Governor Josef Pühringer and nature protection councillor Manfred Haimbuchner of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) said today (Weds) average temperature had risen at most checkpoints at the Kalkalpen national park by 2.1 degrees centigrade.They added temperature rose by up to four degrees centigrade in some areas of 209-square-kilometre territory.National park chief Erich Mayrhofer revealed the timber line would rise up by 200 to 250 metres over the next few hundreds of years.Mayrhofer explained no changes of any kind would be made at 75 per cent of the estate to let natural developments happen.The Kalkalpen national park is one of seven national parks in the country. It is home to more than 1,500 different butterflies, six different woodpecker species and around 30 mammals.Around 285,000 people visited the territory for hiking last year, up by 11 per cent year on year.Mayrhofer pointed out the parks important role for the Steyr-Kirchdorf region since it created 310 jobs.Findings of rising average temperature at the national park comes just weeks after the Austrian Alps Society (OeAV) said studied had shown that 91 per cent of the Austrias glaciers diminished in size last year.OeAV expert Andrea Fischer explained 85 of the 93 Austrian mountains the body had monitored in 2009 shrunk, while just one grew.