snow

Abundances of deciduous trees, and songbirds that live in the trees, have declined over the past 22 years in montane Arizona due to decreasing snowpack.

Most of the West Coast, the Rockies and the northern Great Plains have seen unusually dry conditions for the last two months, leaving ski resorts nervous.

Heavy snowpack in the Rocky Mountains reduces the intensity of the ensuing monsoon in the Southwest U.S. A new study presented by scientists at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting found that heavy snowpack cools the air by both reflecting more sunlight and keeping the soil wetter.

Posted by Melissa Lamberton | on December 08, 2011
When thousands of acres burned across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas last summer, firefighters and forest managers faced a more formidable foe than just smoke and flames. Research suggests that Southwestern wildfires are becoming bigger and fiercer in response to the two-headed hydra of higher temperatures and abundant fuel. In both cases, humans have a hand in creating ecosystems ready to go up in flames, but making management decisions to reverse the trend may not be so easy.

A new study published in PLoS ONE by USGS scientists and other colleagues investigates the likely impacts of climate change on the biology, geography, and water supplies of California’s San Francisco Bay-Delta-River System.

Last winter’s abundant snowfall in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming is bringing extra water to Arizona, California, and Nevada this spring and early summer, writes the Washington Post. The extra water will raise the level