Sentences with phrase «increased snowmelt»

Warm conditions reduce snowfall, increase snowmelt and increase water loss from soils and plants.

Not exact matches

Overall, aquatic ecosystems in western North America are predicted to experience increasingly earlier snowmelt in the spring, reduced late spring and summer flows, warmer and drier summers, and increased water temperatures — all of which spell increased hybridization between these species.

The team's computer simulations suggested that the soot can cause a decrease of between 1.6 and 4.1 percent in the glacier's albedo — a measure of its sunlight - reflecting «whiteness» — and that the resulting heating can cause up to a 24 percent increase in the annual snowmelt, Yasunari reported here Monday at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Melting glaciers, early snowmelt, and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages and increase the risk of wildfires in the American West.

Across Montana, conditions that lead to high fire risk (i.e., likelihood of occurrence) are becoming more common: seasonal maximum temperatures are increasing, snowmelt is occurring earlier, minimum relative humidities are decreasing, and fuels are becoming drier (Jolly et al. 2015; Seager et al. 2015).

Study team member Robert Dudley says global warming could be involved but that the aim of the study was only to determine whether snowmelt runoff into rivers was increasing or decreasing; it will be up to other scientists to examine what factors might be responsible for the trend they found.

Forests that historically had large areas with no snow on the ground for two to four months and high moisture loss from soils and vegetation in spring and summer have seen the biggest increases in wildfire in early spring snowmelt years (for example, the northern Rockies and parts of the Sierra Nevada).

These include increases in heavy downpours, rising temperature and sea level, rapidly retreating glaciers, thawing permafrost, lengthening growing seasons, lengthening ice - free seasons in the ocean and on lakes and rivers, earlier snowmelt, and alterations in river flows.

That means to me (according to what Michael Mann and Gavin Schmidt wrote), that my work on «Earlier snowmelt runoff and increasing dewpoints in the Upper Midwest» should not be given much credence.

The findings in my paper show trends for earlier snowmelt runoff and increasing dewpoints in the Upper Midwest.

I wrote a paper titled: Earlier in the Year Snowmelt Runoff and Increasing Dewpoints for Rivers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota for presentation at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center and Desert Research Institute conference, Oct 20 - 22, 2003, Reno, NV.

Changes (increases) in rainfall intensity, temperatures, humidity and rate of snowmelt and have occurred in recent decades, due in part to increases in CO2 concentration.

Among these physical changes are increases in heavy downpours, rising temperature and sea level, rapidly retreating glaciers, thawing permafrost, lengthening growing seasons, lengthening ice - free seasons in the oceans and on lakes and rivers, earlier snowmelt and alterations in river flows.

Snowfall varies across the region, comprising less than 10 % of total precipitation in the south, to more than half in the north, with as much as two inches of water available in the snowpack at the beginning of spring melt in the northern reaches of the river basins.81 When this amount of snowmelt is combined with heavy rainfall, the resulting flooding can be widespread and catastrophic (see «Cedar Rapids: A Tale of Vulnerability and Response»).82 Historical observations indicate declines in the frequency of high magnitude snowfall years over much of the Midwest, 83 but an increase in lake effect snowfall.61 These divergent trends and their inverse relationships with air temperatures make overall projections of regional impacts of the associated snowmelt extremely difficult.

Large - scale flooding can also occur due to extreme precipitation in the absence of snowmelt (for example, Rush Creek and the Root River, Minnesota, in August 2007 and multiple rivers in southern Minnesota in September 2010).84 These warm - season events are projected to increase in magnitude.

This early snowmelt has been linked (pdf) to local temperature increases and warming - driven changes to Arctic air masses.

Suggested mechanisms involve changes in the water cycle: increased evapotranspiration losses, extended water - stress periods, earlier snowmelt, and lengthened fire seasons.

(A) mitigate the destructive impacts of climate - related increases in the duration, frequency, or magnitude of rainfall or runoff, including snowmelt runoff, as well as hurricanes;

Water resources, already over-tapped in many areas, will become even scarcer as a result of increased evaporation and snowmelt caused by higher temperatures, affecting agriculture, hydroelectric power plants, and water availability in growing cities such as Phoenix and Las Vegas.

More than one - sixth of the world's population live in glacier - or snowmelt - fed river basins and will be affected by the seasonal shift in streamflow, an increase in the ratio of winter to annual flows, and possibly the reduction in low flows caused by decreased glacier extent or snow water storage (high confidence)[3.4.1, 3.4.3].

In the northern Rocky Mountains in the US, for example, an increase in wildfires has been linked to early snowmelt in spring, extending the dry summer.

Seasonal drought risk is also projected to increase in summer and fall as higher temperatures lead to greater evaporation and earlier winter and spring snowmelt.11

The length of the growing season in interior Alaska has increased 45 % over the last century7 and that trend is projected to continue.8 This could improve conditions for agriculture where moisture is adequate, but will reduce water storage and increase the risks of more extensive wildfire and insect outbreaks across much of Alaska.9, 10 Changes in dates of snowmelt and freeze - up would influence seasonal migration of birds and other animals, increase the likelihood and rate of northerly range expansion of native and non-native species, alter the habitats of both ecologically important and endangered species, and affect ocean currents.11

The two interior sites are projected to retain the characteristics of a nival regime by mid-century, although streamflow - timing shifts result from increased mid-winter rainfall and snowmelt, and earlier freshet onset.

For example, earlier snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains exposes plants to increased frost damage, (e.g., Inouye, 2008), and declining summer fog causes stress to coastal redwoods (Johnstone and Dawson, 2010).

Melting glaciers, early snowmelt, and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages and increase the risk of wildfires in the American West.

The observed effects of cryosphere reduction include modification of river regimes due to enhanced glacial melt, snowmelt advance and enhanced winter base flow; formation of thermokarst terrain and disappearance of surface lakes in thawing permafrost; decrease in potential travel days of vehicles over frozen roads in the Arctic; enhanced potential for glacier hazards and slope instability due to mechanical weakening driven by ice and permafrost melting; regional ocean freshening; sea - level rise due to glacier and ice sheet shrinkage; biotic colonisation and faunal changes in deglaciated terrain; changes in freshwater and marine ecosystems affected by lake - ice and sea - ice reduction; changes in livelihoods; reduced tourism activities related to skiing, ice climbing and scenic activities in cryospheric areas affected by degradation; and increased ease of ship transportation in the Arctic.

Study team member Robert Dudley says global warming could be involved but that the aim of the study was only to determine whether snowmelt runoff into rivers was increasing or decreasing; it will be up to other scientists to examine what factors might be responsible for the trend they found.