By Lynn Kellogg
Last month I traveled to Denver to visit a friend. Not having been to Colorado for a while, I was excited to see her and catch glimpses of the Rocky Mountains. Seeing her was great. The greatness of seeing the Rockies was tempered by their condition.
A friend who years ago climbed 14,259’ Long’s Peak asked me to take a picture of it. Being April, it should’ve been covered in snow. It wasn’t. Its rocky cliffs were bare, with only valleys of snow and a smaller white peak. The snowpack last winter was less than 50% of the year before. Wow – though Spring, Denver had already declared a drought.
Per the National Weather Service’s Colorado River Basin Forecast Center, the Colorado River headwater snowpack was “…the lowest recorded level since measurements began in 1986”.
Lake Powell and Lake Mead serve as primary reservoirs for the Colorado River Basin, serving 40 million people, agriculture and wildlife. In March, the reservoirs were declared 24% and 34% full respectively. Some hydroelectric turbines supplying energy may not stay operational through summer.
Other areas and rivers received high precipitation. Higher temperatures, however, turned many snowstorms into rainstorms, allowing more water to be absorbed into the land rather than flowing into rivers.
Every mountainous state is experiencing unprecedented melt. Annually, all states are experiencing more superhot days.
An international collection of climate scientists, primarily the World Weather Attribution and US-based Climate Central, track temperature trends and forecasts around the planet.
If we stay on our current course of emission control and conservation, the number of superhot days over the coming decades is estimated to increase globally by 57 days, nearly 2 months. If we ignore the environment, the prediction is another doubling, nearly 4 superhot months.
These are global predictions with temperatures not evenly distributed across the world. The United States will be hotter but will fare better than arid or semi-arid countries. Uneven impact gives a false sense of security. We share the same atmosphere and cannot be complacent. In the U.S. we already see changing patterns of tornadoes, extreme winds and rain.
A study published last year by the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research at the University of Michigan concluded that we’ve entered an entirely new climate era, a new reality that recognizes “…the past is no longer a reliable guide for the future”. It won’t be applicable.
Like the mountains, cold areas are affected the most. The upper Great Lakes: Superior, Huron and Michigan, are experiencing the largest change in increasing heatwave effect. Lake Superior is affected the most and per the study “…is one of the fastest warming lakes in the world and has seen a dramatic decline in ice cover’”
Loss of ice cover increases annual evaporation, lowering water levels and allowing heat to penetrate further. Water retains heat more than land giving us long, beautiful autumns. The study points out however, that warmer waters will create more intense lake effect snow as cold air blows over warmer water, and more algae blooms.
More startling, the study found Lakes Huron and Michigan are no longer consistently stratifying in winter anymore. Stratification is when there are distinct depths of predictable temperatures that plants, fish and animals rely on to propagate and balance the ecosystem.
It’s overwhelming, especially when policy seems intent on reversing climate protection. This could be disastrous for future generations.
The good news is that we’ve proven in the last 10 years that adherence to climate supporting behavior works. Regional Haze Rules assure that states have long-term pollution control plans to regulate industry and improve visibility. These have significantly cleared skies in cities, national parks and recreational areas. Public awareness to limit plastic shopping bags and water bottles, as well as local regulation prohibiting debris burning and encouraging active recycling are normative.
Let your feelings be known to elected officials at all levels and set an example to friends, family and neighbors. Collectively, we can do this.
Lynn Kellogg is former CEO of Region IV Area Agency on Aging in Southwest Michigan. Questions on age or independence services? Call the Info-Line for Aging & Disability at 800-654-2810 or visit areaagencyonaging.org. The Generations column appears each weekend in The Herald-Palladium.