Carvings made over decades by Basque herders are endangered as their canvas, the aspens, are at risk.
Sawtooth Mountains, 2011, Idaho Basque Arborglyphs Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Albertsons Library, Boise State University
Herders carved names, slogans, nude silhouettes and more into the trees around them during lonely seasons in the mountains. Now, researchers rush to find and record the arborglyphs before they disappear.
Mountain chickadees struggle with snow extremes.
Benjamin Sonnenberg
These tiny songbirds have extraordinary memories for the tens of thousands of spots where they hide food. But that doesn’t help when heavy snow blocks their access.
California’s snowpack was more than twice the average in much of the state in early March 2023.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Reservoirs and streams are in good shape in California and the Great Basin, but groundwater and ecosystems are another story. And then there’s the Colorado River Basin.
A series of atmospheric rivers in early 2023 covered the Sierra Nevada in snow.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Studies show climate change is raising the risk of cascading hazards that alone might not be extreme but add up to human disasters. Communities and government agencies aren’t prepared.
Heat and dryness are leaving high mountain areas more vulnerable to forest fires.
David McNew/Getty Images
Restoring western forests – thinning out small trees and dead wood – is an important strategy for reducing the risk of massive wildfires. But these projects aren’t fast, easy or cheap.
A valuable resource: Snowpack on Oregon’s Mt. Hood.
USDA NRCS/Spencer Miller
New research forecasts that climate change will make multiyear stretches with low snow levels more common across western North America – bad news for water managers, farmers, foresters and skiers.
Following NASA’s latest discovery of organic matter on the red planet, new findings in a salt lake in California could point to where to look for alien life.
Flooding in Houston, April 18, 2016.
Laurence Simon/Flickr
Extreme weather has an outsized impact on everyday life. Focusing on average weather patterns may make Americans dangerously complacent about how climate change is already affecting our lives.
Comparison of Sierra Nevada snowpack in 2015 v 2010.
NASA/MODIS
According to scientists, tree-ring analysis shows that California drought is the worst it has been in 500 years.The study underscores the severity of current drought and the challenges of future water management in the state.
What lessons are there in the beer industry?
Rhett Brymer
The beer industry is a fascinating microcosm of the larger landscape of today’s business environment. Students can examine a range of questions facing businesses, through the beer industry.