"Rapid Snowpack Decline: The Impact of Climate Change on Mountain Regions"
Originally Published 2 years ago — by Bloomberg
Global warming is causing a decline in winter storms and mountain snowpack, leading to prolonged drought and impacting critical water sources for millions of people. A high-profile study published in Nature found that nearly half of Northern Hemisphere river basins have seen snowpack decline since 1981, with a human contribution to "snow drought" now formally and virtually certain. As the world warms, snow-dependent areas with average winter temperatures exceeding -8 degrees Celsius become more sensitive to climate change, posing increasing instability for water sources. Satellite technology has been crucial in monitoring snow drought, and water management and adaptation measures are becoming increasingly important as the world faces a future of more scarce water resources in snowpack-dependent areas.