Rising Temperatures Reduce Colorado River Flow
https://eos.org/research-spotlights/rising-temperatures-reduce-colorado-river-flow
Source: By Sarah Stanley, Eos/AGU.
Excerpt: The Colorado River flows through seven U.S. states and northern Mexico. Along the way, it provides drinking water to millions of people and irrigates thousands of square kilometers of cropland. However, although annual precipitation in the region increased by about 1% in the past century, the volume of water flowing down the river has dropped by over 15%. While it’s true that so much of the water is diverted on its route to the Gulf of California that it no longer discharges into the ocean, scientists have recently found an additional cause in the reduction in river flow. New research by Xiao et al. examines the causes behind this 100-year decline in natural flow, teasing out the relative contributions of rising temperatures and changes in precipitation. ...Rising temperatures can lower flow by increasing the amount of water lost to evaporation from soil and surface water, boosting the amount of water used by plants, lengthening the growing season, and shrinking snowpacks that contribute to flow via meltwater. ...The researchers found that rising temperatures are responsible for 53% of the long-term decline in the river’s flow, with changing precipitation patterns and other factors accounting for the rest. The sizable effects of rising temperatures are largely due to increased evaporation and water uptake by plants, as well as by sublimation of snowpacks....
Source: By Sarah Stanley, Eos/AGU.
Excerpt: The Colorado River flows through seven U.S. states and northern Mexico. Along the way, it provides drinking water to millions of people and irrigates thousands of square kilometers of cropland. However, although annual precipitation in the region increased by about 1% in the past century, the volume of water flowing down the river has dropped by over 15%. While it’s true that so much of the water is diverted on its route to the Gulf of California that it no longer discharges into the ocean, scientists have recently found an additional cause in the reduction in river flow. New research by Xiao et al. examines the causes behind this 100-year decline in natural flow, teasing out the relative contributions of rising temperatures and changes in precipitation. ...Rising temperatures can lower flow by increasing the amount of water lost to evaporation from soil and surface water, boosting the amount of water used by plants, lengthening the growing season, and shrinking snowpacks that contribute to flow via meltwater. ...The researchers found that rising temperatures are responsible for 53% of the long-term decline in the river’s flow, with changing precipitation patterns and other factors accounting for the rest. The sizable effects of rising temperatures are largely due to increased evaporation and water uptake by plants, as well as by sublimation of snowpacks....