Warming intensifies Colorado drought.
Forty million people depend on the Colorado River for drinking water.
And the problem is going to get worse as the climate changes.
That’s not just because we’re going to see changing precipitation patterns.
And warmer temperatures can exacerbate droughts, especially when they happen in spring.
When it does, it evaporates or gets absorbed by soil.
As a result, when summertime comes, less is available for runoff into the river.
Woodhouse: “We’re moving toward these warmer drought conditions that are having more of an impact on stream flow.” So for the farmers who depend on the river for irrigation, and the communities that rely on it for drinking water, warmer and drier conditions pose a real and immediate threat.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media.
Photo: Colorado River.