Tom Yulsman for
Discover Magazine
March 9. 2015
The snowpack, essentially serves as a water tower for the western region
of the US, it produces meltwater that flows of mountains once warmer weather
begins to occur. The meltwater refills streams, and reservoirs of water. As
well as serving as a source of water for fields and cities through dry summers,
which occur in the semiarid regions? However this snowpack is starting to
experience gaps as the temperatures rise, the Cascades and Sierra Nevada
mountains are the most problematic as the climate has become too warm for the
snow to replenish the ecosystem each season. With this changing climate, some
of the seasonal storms are also changing (occurring more frequently), this
results in more rain and less snow, which is in no way good for the snow pack.
The result the so called water tower, which provides one third of
California’s water is no longer being re
filled each winter, and in return leaving a gap in the water supply for the
summer. This could mean that California could face a fourth year of water
shortages, what is even more worrisome is that there is no plan to deal with
this situation, meaning that water shortages could become a reality. The second source of water for California
originates from aquifers; however they too are being depleted to quickly and
cannot replenish themselves. 90 miles from Sacramento a study was conducted, finding
only one inch of water stored in the snowpack, which is a staggering 5 percent
of the historical average. The pack as a
whole is now only 19% the size it was in previous decades. 2010 was the last wet year, but most of the
past 15 years were dry.
The fact that he snowpack is melting shows a clear increase in the
global temperature. As the icepack has been around for a very long time, and
since it is melting now, it is obvious that a change in the climate has occurred.
Looking at the effect this has on human lives, California is generally known as
a dry place, and now that it’s being left without one of its main sources of
water it is much more prone to droughts. On a more global scale the melting of
the snowpack should serve as a reminder of the problems posed by global
warming, and that it is making a significant impact already. In the western
region the snowpack has already melted. At many monitoring stations the amount
of snow recorded is at a record low. The main problem is the surprising
increase in temperatures that lead to premature melting.
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