Rising temps shrink snowpack in Utah
Rising temperatures are turning snow into rain in the Utah mountains, a new study has concluded, a change that could leave reservoirs with less water for use during the warm and dry months each year.
Researchers at Utah State University’s Utah Climate Center found that, over the past 50 years, the proportion of precipitation falling as snow during the winter months decreased by 9 percent. The change was a result of more rain and slightly less snow, according to the study, reported Friday by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Snowpack helps store water at higher elevations during colder months and then releases the runoff gradually, allowing water to accumulate in rivers and reservoirs. Rain can evaporate more quickly, leaving less water for the reservoirs and allowing the ground to dry up faster.
Rob Gillies, one of the study’s authors, told the Tribune that the data used by his research team points to rising temperatures as a cause of the change. He said this past winter showed what can happen: less snow fell, it melted earlier with the earlier onset of spring and conditions turned dry much more quickly.
The study, published in the Journal of Climate by the American Meteorological Society, focused on Utah data, but it affirms what other researchers have found in recent years, that spring is arriving earlier at higher elevations across the West and snow is melting and evaporating more quickly.
Survey finds divide in green attitudes
U.S. consumers rank last among 17 countries in steps taken to protect the environment and they don’t feel guilty about the damage they do, according to a survey released last week by the National Geographic Society.
The survey, called the Greendex, examines sustainable behavior, such as the type of energy used to heat or cool homes, the type of vehicle driven or the source of food, along with knowledge of environmental issues.
Consumers in China, India and Brazil scored the highest in the survey for their actions and choices, the society reported. Japan, Canada and the United States were the three lowest-scoring nations.
The survey asks consumers if they feel guilty about the impact they have on the environment. Although 47 percent of Americans said their individual choices could make a difference in protecting the environment, just 21 percent said they felt guilty about the impact their choices had.
Consumers in India, China and Brazil, meanwhile posted high Greendex scores and also said they felt guilty about how their actions affected the environment, the survey found.
The survey uses data and responses from 17,000 people in 17 countries to generate the Greendex score.