Drought expanded across Arizona and New Mexico in the past month, but especially in New Mexico, where 44 percent of the state is now in exceptional drought, according to the May Southwest Climate Outlook from CLIMAS. Since October 1, extreme to exceptional drought conditions have increased by about 70 percent in New...
In The News
Groundwater Depletion Largest in Western U.S.
May 24, 2013 |
USGS
Plants Shrinking in Great Basin
May 24, 2013 |
Global Change Biology
Plants have been shrinking since 1893 in the Great Basin region, possibly in response to increased minimum and maximum temperatures, according to a recent study published in Global Change Biology. Using the plant collection at the University of Nevada, Reno, the author measured plant height, leaf size, and...
Scientific Consensus Growing on Human-Caused Global Warming
May 24, 2013 |
Environmental Research Letters
Of the nearly 12,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers addressing global warming published from 1991 to 2011, over 97 percent of those that took a position on anthropogenic global warming endorsed the scientific consensus that humans are causing global warming. The authors of the study, published in Environmental Research...
Satellites Assess SoCal Wildfire Risk
May 17, 2013 |
NASA/Chapman University
Enhanced vegetation growth triggered by heavy rains last winter, followed by drying soils resulting from low rainfall and high temperatures in the spring have fueled Southern California’s early wildfire season, according to scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Chapman University. Using satellite data...
Warmer Springs Decreasing Rocky Mountain Snowpack
May 17, 2013 |
Geophysical Research Letters
Warming during February and March since the 1980s has driven declines in snowpack in the Rocky Mountains of western North America, according to a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters. The authors used a combination of observations and a mathematical model to determine changes in snowpack over...
New Climate Projections Assist Water Managers
May 17, 2013 |
Bureau of Reclamation
Scientists at the Bureau of Reclamation have increased the spatial resolution of the newest climate models to make them more useful for water managers. The World Climate Research Program releases new global climate projections every five to seven years, and the newest projections use data from the Coupled Model...
Grazing Exacerbates Cheatgrass Invasion
May 17, 2013 |
Journal of Applied Ecology
Cattle grazing in parts of western North America increases the severity of cheatgrass invasion, according to a new study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. Cheatgrass is an invasive species in vast regions of the West, where it displaces native grasses such as sagebrush and perennial...
Changing Ag Practices Would Conserve CO Basin Water
May 9, 2013 |
Pacific Institute
Significant water savings are possible in the Colorado River Basin through changes in irrigation techniques, such as irrigating alfalfa less often, and shifting to less water-intensive crops, according to a new study by the Pacific Institute....
More Accurate Snow Measurements Better Predict Runoff
May 9, 2013 |
NASA
A new airborne mission—a collaboration between NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Department of Water Resources—is able to measure the amount of water held in snowpack in two mountain watersheds in the U.S., allowing scientists to better estimate...