American West May Be Facing 2-6 Fewer Weeks Of Winter This Century - New West

[hatrack]

EDIT

In addition to the global message, though, there is news for the American West tucked away in the report. As computer model simulations have gotten more sophisticated, they are able to take a closer look at regional impacts that result from the changing climate.

This message is mostly hidden, however, because the details are in the full report, which won’t be released until this spring. Linda Mearns, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, is the lead author for the IPCC on these regional models. She says, “There isn’t a lot of detail in the summary for policymakers, but there are specific statements in chapter eleven of the executive summary. There are statements one can make.”

One of the things that can be said to have a strong likelihood is that there will be two to six fewer weeks of winter. “Throughout the Rockies and the lower 48 states, we would see a contraction of the snow season,” Mearns said. “Snow will come later in the season and melt off sooner. Changes in total precipitation are harder to nail down, Mearns said. “The strongest statement is that it’s likely that precipitation will decrease in the southwest and northern Mexico. That will affect the southern Rockies.”

She added, “In the southwest, the likelihood of more severe droughts and more areally extensive droughts is a real possibility. If I were governor of New Mexico or Arizona, I would look really hard at my twenty year plan for water resources and seriously consider these results.” As you move northward in latitude, the prospect for rainfall improves. From a drier southwest, the rainfall patterns move through a “transition zone” between about 37 degrees and 42 degrees north latitude—roughly the borders of Colorado—where it is very difficult to predict what might happen.

EDIT

http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/global_warming_report_less_winter_in_the_west/C511/L38/

[amandabeech]

1. Less snow also means lower albedo in winter,

yet another negative feedback cycle.

Let those fountains flow in Vegas, baby.