Warmer, drier winters?
Across Colorado the water stories are often about who is going to dry up this year or who is racing to develop over-allocated resources. In the early 21st century we've been busy trying to sit down and work on sensible solutions to sustainable supplies. The Rocky Mountain News is at this week's State of the Rockies Conference and they're reporting that there is a good chance that supplies will be disrupted by warmer drier winters over the next few decades.
From the article, "Rising temperatures and declining snowpack have already begun, said Gregory Zimmerman, Caitlin O'Brady and Bryan Hurlbutt, the CC students and graduates who authored the report. Their research is among 11 pieces contained in the 'State of the Rockies Report Card,' a yearlong research project by a group of CC students, graduates and faculty. The group will conduct a series of presentations through Thursday at the college to discuss the report card, which also includes sections on wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and conservation. Climate changes caused by global warming can no longer be stopped or reversed quickly, the report states. If current use of motor vehicles and other greenhouse gas-producing practices continue at the present levels, annual average temperatures will rise 12 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit on Colorado's Front Range over the next 80 years and 10 to 12 degrees in the mountains, the report stated. Across the West, most of the latest climate models predict a warming of 3.6 to 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100."
Here's the coverage from the Colorado Springs Gazette. They write, "The report, which covers Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, was researched and compiled by six undergraduate students and two graduates overseen by professor of economics Walter Hecox. Several experts contributed articles. Although past reports have looked at urban sprawl, energy and civic engagement, this year[base ']s study focused on land conservation, resource management, biodiversity, climate change, environmental justice and nurturing youth. Although the 130-page report was given to about 150 people on hand for its unveiling Monday, O[base ']Brady warned that the youth section may contain inaccuracies...
"Global warming will have a dramatic impact on the Rockies, the report said. Climate change, it said, is caused by fossil fuel combustion that increases atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, trapping heat near the Earth[base ']s surface and leading to higher surface temperatures. The report contains the first study conducted of global warming[base ']s impact on the Rocky Mountain region. The model showed 14 ski areas will see significant snowpack loss, affecting not only tourism but water availability. The model also showed that if emission levels stay the same or increase, summer temperatures will rise by 7 to 10 degrees Celsius, or 13 to 18 degrees Farenheit, and in winter, by 3 to 7 degrees Celsius, or 5 to 13 degrees Farenheit, by 2085. Although it[base ']s trickier to predict the consequences of those temperature increases, the report found that most snowy areas would lose more than 50 percent of their snowpack."
Category: Colorado Water
7:51:51 AM 
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