A reduced snow cover in the mountains also means reduced water in the plains. From the US to the East, a large part of the planet could have even more difficulty accessing water in the next century. The cause, needless to say, is global warming. The global rise in temperatures could "turn off the taps" of over 2 billion people
Un mantle snowy reduced to the mountains it also means reduced water in the plains. From the US to the East, a large part of the planet could have even more difficulty accessing water in the next century. The cause, needless to say, is the overallwarming. The global rise in temperatures could "turn off the taps" of over 2 billion people.
The alarm was raised by a new study, conducted by scientists from the Columbia University. The gradual melting of snow in winter gives water that feeds not only natural ecosystems but also cities and factories.
This resource may soon be in jeopardy. In the new study, scientists identified snow-dependent drainage basins across the Northern Hemisphere. They currently serve 2 billion people in America, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.
All these areas are rich in land agricultural, today in difficulty both because of the increasing drought and because of the devastation linked to wars.
Snow is an important seasonal water source especially around great chains mountain. From higher altitudes, the thaw guarantees the presence of water in the plains during spring and summer, corresponding to the peaks of human demand.
But the heating global is upsetting this equilibrium Winter precipitation is decreasing, snow falls at progressively higher altitudes, and melting occurs earlier.
Scientists observed the decrease in snow accumulation in many regions, a trend that will continue. Permanent snowfields are disappearing in the Colorado Rockies as well as the Himalayas and other areas. This year the snow cover of the California has reached an all-time low of the last 500 years.
“Snow is important because it constitutes its own reservoir. But the consequences of the reduced snow cover are not the same for all places ", he said l’autore Justin Mankin.
Mankin and his co-authors also calculated i possible effects future, based on how many people consume water generated by melting snow. They surveyed 421 river basins spanning the Northern Hemisphere, combining data from some climate models with demographic data on water use. They thus discovered that I am 97 the basins that today serve about 2 billion people and which depend on the melting of the snow.
Those who live in the next century will have to deal with this too.
Francesca Mancuso
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