A Rocky Mountain meadow located between snowy mountains has been watched by scientists for almost three decades. Until 2000 the meadow seemed to be resisting the effect of global warming even though spring had arrived earlier. It was covered in a white blanket of snow. After 2000 the meadow was thriving because of a drought that had reduced the amount of snowfall (nationalgeographic.com).
In general drought will probably become more extreme in some regions as the average temperatures increase which adds to raised evaporation rates. The drought affecting the West is the worst seen in 500 years and has immensely lessened the water resources available for people and wildlife (targetglobalwarming.org).
An ecologists study has shown that snow has begun to melt earlier as well as the soil drying sooner. When the soil is drier it stores less carbon, and less carbon in the soil means that there is more in the atmosphere. He said that this will increa
se the rate of global warming (nationalgeographic.com).Sagebrush, a common shrub found in the West prefers drier soil. It has been dominating the meadows in the Rocky Mountains and pushing out wildflowers. He also believes that the five years of this drought has been consistent with global warming (nationalgeographic.com).
image from: http://www.scsc.k12.ar.us/1999Outwest/members/LachowskyR/Big_Sagebrush.jpg
13 comments:
This was really interesting Ariane. I'm sure there's alot to talk about regarding Global Warming and season length and crops. I'm still not really sure what Snowpack is. Is it just the amount of snow that covers an area? Also, the fact that there are so many droughts occuring recently seems really bad? Are there any affects resulting from this? Good job, I can't wait to read more!
Is global warming the main cause of these seasonal changes?
What can we do to help?
Good job Ariane. You are off to a very good start. I like how you organized everything into specific sections, narrowing everything down. I still am a little confused as to how drought exactly effects the amount of snowfall. Otherwise, everything is great! Great sources aswell.
How is something like the October storm in Western New York in 2006 relative to global warming?
Due to the release of carbon by dry soil, is the carbon cycle affected? If so, does this continue to fuel global warming?
So with the obvious impact of drier soil (less CO2 in the ground, and more in the air), what are scientists doing to help? Is there anything to do? Can we help?
I didn't realize how much global warming was truely affecting us right now. For example with the wildflowers and what is going on in Western mountain ranges. i was wondering what was going on in other areas that was being caused by global warming?
I seem to not have fully explained snowpack and it is the accumulation of snow that falls in the winter.
This is a great perspective on global warming. I never thought about how drier soil would contribute to more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
From what I read in the targetglobalwarming.org article, it seemed to say that global warming was a major cause of changing these Western landscapes. Also I think you will find as you read more on everyone's blogs additional evidence that global warming is having an impact on these ecosystems. In order to help this issue it is necessary to lower the emissions of carbon dioxide and other fossil fuels in the atmosphere.
Hannah, the warm weather from the drought that was occuring in the meadow was reducing the amount of snowfall.
Sarah, I am not sure how the October storm in WNY and global warming are connected, if I come across it I will let you know.
Katy I am not sure if scientists are doing anything to help the release of more CO2 in the air, I assume there is not much they can do because it is a natural cycle. However If we reduce our amount of fossil fuels, and use the alternative energy sources we could reduce the amount of CO2 in the air.
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