Spring 2013 brought more than a foot of snow to Colorado, but the drought status persists, driving the cost of water up and affecting small farms’ bottom lines.
Tag Archive: snowpack
Vanishing Act: Drought and Warmth Send Colorado’s Snowpack into Freefall
By Tom Yulsman Like a spring avalanche, snowpack in Colorado has plunged off a precipice. Statewide, snowpack usually peaks in early to mid-April, but this year it began to melt off rapidly in early March. On March 1, snowpack in most of the mountainous parts of the state was between 70 and 89 percent of …
Will Boulder’s Water Supply Stand Up to Climate Change? (Part 1)
The 2002 drought in Boulder, Colorado, sparked concerns about how a warming climate could impact the city’s water supply. After assessing historical streamflow records, tree ring data, and climate change models, a team of researchers concluded that even under future climate change scenarios water shortages don’t appear imminent. However, with runoff from the Rocky Mountains …
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Go With Your Gut: Probiotics Might Not Be the Right Choice for Everyone
6 Mar 2013
In the right circumstances probiotic supplements can benefit the human gut, but are they they right choice for you?
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Betasso Water Treatment Plant Foresees Enough Water this Year, Shortages for 2014
8 Feb 2013
Experts agree that 2012 was one of the hottest and driest years on record, and so far this year there has not been enough precipitation, either fallen or forecasted, to indicate that the situation will improve.
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“Not In My Backyard:” the Ongoing Struggle to Store U.S. Nuclear Waste
5 Feb 2013
The nation's growing problem of how to dispose of nuclear waste from power reactors can’t be solved through science alone, according to the co-authors of a new book on high-level nuclear waste.
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Climate Expert Says if You Deny Climate Change, Better Forget About Gravity, Too
6 Nov 2012
Paleoclimatologist Jim White spends as much time in the lab as in the public eye, and he’s here to set the record straight: really, folks, climate change is not as complicated as it seems.
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Analysis: But Where Has All The Science Gone?
6 Nov 2012
What happens when we stop thinking and trust our guts? Just what one would expect: we are wrong.
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Can a Town Called Commerce City Ever Be Sustainable?
24 Oct 2012
In a city known for heavy industry, environmental issues and problems with suburban sprawl, sustainable practices might be the antithesis of their primary goal for ambitious growth.
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Experts Say to Keep Homes out of Fire-risk Zones, Homeowners Should Pay Wildfire Costs
15 Oct 2012
Experts say that to keep homes out of dangerous fire zones, the high costs of wildfires must shift away from the federal government to local government and homeowners.
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Wild Horses in the West: The Uncertainty of an American Icon
24 Sep 2012
The federal government recognizes and protects wild horses as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.” The reality of managing herds, however, has proved problematic.
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Q&A with David Noone, Up-and-Coming Climate Scientist
12 Sep 2012
Since he started sailing years ago, David Noone had his attention focused on climate. Now, the National Science Foundation is recognizing him as the next big thing in climate science and engineering.
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Branding Nature? Less Federal Funding Makes National Parks Vulnerable to Corporate Influence
21 Mar 2012
Americans have made it clear on many occasions that they don’t want commercialism in their parks. But just how far do the reaches of corporate influence extend?
Drying Up
Analysis & Commentary, Climate
Mar 16
by Tom Yulsman
Thanks to drought and warm weather, snowpack through much of the West is taking a big hit, reducing streamflow forecasts for spring and summer. By Tom Yulsman A winter of seemingly relentless wind has given way to balmy and mercifully calm weather, bringing daffodils and sunnier spirits — but also heralding a potentially dry and …
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Tags: Colorado River, Lake Mead, Lake Powell, snowpack