A national park centre will have a shock glimpse into a climate-change future when it reopens at Easter.

Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park

The Yorkshire Dales centre in Grassington, North Yorkshire, closed at the end of last year for a refitting. When it opens its doors again to the public, it will have a display of what the Dales may look like seven decades into the future if global warming continues.

Karen Griffiths, interpretation officer with the park authority, said: “There will be a prediction of what the area might look like in 2080 if climate change goes unchecked. It’s quite a frightening picture of a dry, barren landscape.”

The centre will also have a demonstration of traditional farming methods and how they compare with modern agriculture. In 2006, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority launched the Hay Time Project, which aims to convert 140 hectares of land in the park back to traditional hay meadow.

The authority is working with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust to encourage farmers to restore hayfields, which support a wide range of flowers and wildlife.

Ms Griffiths said: “There will be a new area focussing on farming, with panels explaining how the agricultural landscape in Wharfedale has changed over time. It will show the difference between traditional and modern farming methods too.

“There will also be a hay meadows display that will contain descriptions and photographs of the summer days of hay making that many will remember from their childhood.”

The centre is in Grassington’s village car park.