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Articles on Snowpack

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Cloud seeding can increase rainfall and reduce hail damage to crops, but its use is limited. John Finney Photography/Moment via Getty Images

Cloud seeding can increase rain and snow, and new techniques may make it a lot more effective – podcast

Cloud seeding – spraying materials into clouds to increase precipitation – has been around for nearly 80 years. But only recently have scientists been able to measure how effective it really is.
California’s snowpack was more than twice the average in much of the state in early March 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Is the Western drought finally ending? That depends on where you look

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.
Following historic drought in 2021, reservoir levels dropped down in the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, which gets its waters from the melting snowpack from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. (pxhere.com)

Scientists dig deep and find a way to accurately predict snowmelt after droughts

Unprecedented droughts leave the subsurface drier than usual, affecting water supply in subsequent years.
In high alpine terrain, sun and dry air can turn snow straight into water vapor. Jeffrey Pang/WikimediaCommons

Snow can disappear straight into the atmosphere in hot, dry weather

As rivers run dry in the Rocky Mountains and the West, it’s easy to wonder where all the snow you see on mountain peaks goes. Some of it ends up in the air, but researchers aren’t sure how much.
Snow melts near the Continental Divide in the Bridger Wilderness Area in Wyoming, part of the Greater Yellowstone Area. Bryan Shuman/University of Wyoming

Yellowstone is losing its snow as the climate warms, and that means widespread problems for water and wildlife

The area’s iconic national parks are home to grizzlies, elk and mountain snowfall that feeds some of the country’s most important rivers. A new report show the changes underway as temperatures rise.
Wildfire smoke rises near Prince Albert, Sask., in May 2021, where a fast-moving wildfire led local officials to declare a state of emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kayle Neis

How wildfires affect climate change — and vice versa

Recent wildfire seasons have been worsened by climate change. But wildfires also lead to additional climate warming when they release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Dust affect infrastructures but also human health. Here in Dakar, Senegal, on February 17, 2021, at the beginning of the Harmattan season. John Wessels/AFP

How can we mitigate the impacts of dust storms?

Dust storms are not unusual, but intense ones have a wide range negative impacts upon multiple socioeconomic sectors. How do we address them?

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