Researchers are measuring the effects of warming on high altitudes in the west, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Mountainous areas of the western United States have warmed faster than plains regions over the past two decades, new research at Boulder's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration labs shows. Areas such as Colorado's Front Range that depend on mountain snow pack for water supplies, are especially vulnerable, as snowmelt is beginning earlier with high elevation warming, according to the analysis by Henry Diaz of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory. 'Our high mountains are like the third pole of the planet,' Diaz said in a statement. 'It's the world's coldest regions that are the most susceptible to warming.' Warming trends are 50 percent greater at higher elevations, the research found, and much of the western United States, including much of Colorado, rises above 5,000 feet. Previous climate research has found snow melting and trees flowering in the Sierra Nevada, Cascades and other western mountain ranges two weeks earlier than 50 years ago. More beetle infestations and the movement of pine forests to higher elevations have also been documented, according to NOAA."
"colorado water"
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