Chance of rain in 2080

From the multi agency White House Global Climate Change Impacts report Southwest chapter, a look at a future with less fresh water and more people. To read the report, click on the Lower Emissions Scenario.

Via the Great Basin Water Network and Dr. James Deacon, Distinguished Emeritus Professor, University of Nevada Las Vegas Departments of Environmental Studies and Biology.…

Tahoe revealed

A submerged tree seen from the submersible in the depths of Fallen Leaf Lake is possible evidence of ancient drought that lowered the lake level for centuries. Photo: Reno Gazette-Journal

“RICHARD Schweickert slipped into a world of brilliant blue,” begins a fascinating story in today’s Reno Gazette-Journal recounting a trip by a miniature submarine through the depths of Lake Tahoe.

From the story:

“It reminds me of a helicopter under water,” Schweickert said of the vehicle that offered him a fish-eye view of a major earthquake fault off Tahoe’s north shore.

The two-person submersible, captained by Scott Cassell of the nonprofit Undersea Voyager Project, made more than 40 dives in Tahoe and nearby Fallen Leaf Lake in May. Crews examined earthquake faults, ancient submerged trees and invading species …

For the whole text, click here.…

White House releases climate change impacts report, prognosis grim for Western water

Graphic: NOAA

 

A MULTI-AGENCY report released by the White House today includes predictions of worsening Western drought, falling water quality and insect infestations. Lest anyone imagine that this warming and its cascade of knock-on effects is somehow part of a natural cycle, the report repeatedly names the trigger for the changes as “human-caused.” 

Government certification of this mother of a problem was not released without some semblance of a solution. Would that this didn’t boil down to a cue to plan on disaster. As part of that, for Western water managers, the message is: All bets are off. We must rethink our system.

Bullet points from the water resources chapter of the report include:   
  • Regional differences in climate will become more prounounced. Rain will increase in the Northeast and Midwest and decline in much of the West, in particular the Southwest. 
  • Substantial changes in the water cycle are expected. A
…

Dust Storms Cause Premature Snow Melt in Colorado

This May 24 report from the  Los Angeles Times is must read material for anyone looking at the relationship between the desiccation of the western deserts of California, Utah and Arizona by climate change and ground water pumping, the tearing up of fragile dry land by off road vehicles, and the effect of the subsequent dust storms on Rocky Mountain glaciers. These glaciers are crucial to the Western water supply.

From the story: 

  • Twelve dust storms barreled into the southern Rockies from the deserts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico so far this year. In contrast, four storms hit the mountains all year long in 2003. 
  • The storms leave a dark film on snow that melts it faster by hastening its absorption of the sun’s energy. That, coupled with unseasonably warm temperatures, has sped up the runoff here, swelling rivers to near flood stage, threatening to make reservoirs overflow and
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