California’s snowpack was more than twice the average in much of the state in early March 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images Dan McEvoy, Desert Research Institute After three years of extreme drought, the Western U.S. is finally getting a break. Mountain ranges are covered in deep snow, and water reservoirs in many areas are filling up … Continue reading Is the Western drought finally ending? That depends on where you look
Reflection Canyon Utah taken in 2015 What comes next for Lake Powell? Craig Childs/High Country News There is the crumpling, the mess. A marina that once floated in a cove has been towed out of the shrinking lake and dropped in a field of Russian thistle, its metal pontoons partially sunk into dry, crack-crazed soil. Cooler … Continue reading Glen Canyon Revealed
Climate change and rising demand are sucking the life out of the Southwest’s water supply. Jonathon Thompson/High Country News One of the most visible signs of the state of the West’s water supply is the big bathtub ring around the sandstone rim of Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir. Whenever the massive hydrological system that delivers … Continue reading The Incredible Shrinking Colorado River
Western fires are burning higher in the mountains at unprecedented rates in a clear sign of climate change Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced, and Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, McGill University The Western U.S. appears headed for another dangerous fire season, and a new study shows that even high mountain areas … Continue reading Western Fires are Burning Higher in the Mountains