Increasing temperatures may lead to an earlier spring bloom in the U.S. by as much as several weeks, according to a new study in Geophysical Research Letters based on data from the USA National Phenology Network and model simulations. The authors argue that these changes could significantly affect how much...
In The News
Flowers Coming Earlier, Especially in the North
March 7, 2013 |
Geophysical Research Letters
Winter Storms Bring Much-Needed Precipitation to AZ
February 28, 2013 |
CLIMAS
It was a tale of two states over the past 30 days, with cold, wet conditions in most of Arizona and warm, dry conditions in most of New Mexico, according to the February Southwest Climate Outlook from CLIMAS. Five winter storms brought above-average precipitation to many parts of Arizona over the past month, and...
Feds Assess Resource Conditions on Colorado Plateau
February 28, 2013 |
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has issued a Rapid Ecoregional Assessment (REA) for the Colorado Plateau region in the hopes of developing collaborative management efforts across administrative boundaries and to...
SW Water Basins Extremely Vulnerable to Future Changes
February 28, 2013 |
U.S. Forest Service
Water systems in the Southwest are among the most vulnerable to future climatic and socio-economic changes, according to a recent study by the U.S. Forest Service in collaboration with researchers at Colorado State University and Princeton University. The authors evaluated the vulnerability of water systems around the country based on...
Adaptation Plan Helps SW Scientists, Managers Address Climate Change
February 28, 2013 |
Conservation Biology
Scientists with the Southwest Climate Change Initiative have piloted a new collaborative planning approach aimed to help natural resource managers more effectively coordinate across jurisdictional boundaries to plan for and create management actions to address the future effects of climate change in the Southwest U.S. The approach, entitled Adaptation for Conservation Targets (ACT), is...
January Was Cold, Wet in the SW
February 22, 2013 |
NOAA
Although January temperatures as a whole were well above average for the contiguous U.S., the Southwest experienced colder-than-average temperatures, with Utah and Nevada experiencing their eighth and ninth coolest January on record, respectively, according to the latest State of the Climate report from NOAA. But for the 12-month...
Climate Change Stresses Agriculture Industry
February 22, 2013 |
USDA
Rising temperatures and variable precipitation will reduce the productivity of agricultural crops, outweighing the benefits of higher growth rates from increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, according to a new report published by the USDA. The report...
Feds Ill-Prepared for Fiscal Effects of Climate Change
February 22, 2013 |
U.S. Government Accountability Office
In this year’s High Risk Report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the federal government is not prepared for the costs (explicit or implicit) presented by climate change, mostly because there is no coherent strategic government-wide approach on how to adapt to climate change. If...
Evapotranspiration Maps Inform Water Managers
February 22, 2013 |
USGS
New county-scale maps created by the US Geological Survey show long-term average evapotranspiration rates for the contiguous U.S. Evapotranspiration, a measure of the amount of water lost to the atmosphere from the ground surface, is an important parameter for water managers and planners since it is often the largest sink for...
Streamflow Forecasts Grim Across SW
February 14, 2013 |
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Streamflow forecasts across the Southwest predict below-average flows in almost every basin in the West, with significant declines in some states, including Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. The forecasts are made by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service as part of...