Research by the DOE Watershed Function SFA project team takes place year-round in a research area along the East River catchment near the Upper Colorado River headwaters. One of the busiest times for sampling is during peak snow. (Photo courtesy Watershed Function SFA)
The image of huge chunks of ice breaking away from glaciers and ice sheets, then floating out to sea in Earth's most remote places, may be the most iconic symbol of a warming planet. And while most people will never see these familiar phenomena up close, what's happening within some of the iciest settings still affects people and regions thousands of miles away. Ecologist Heidi Steltzer , a Fort Lewis College professor and member of the Department of Energy's Watershed Function Scientific Focus Area (SFA) project led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, studies how reduced snowpack and earlier snowmelt caused by climate change impact water supply in high-mountain areas. She is a contributing lead author of a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) assesses the latest scientific literature to describe the impacts of climate change on the ocean and cryosphere - water in its solid state, which in mountains includes glaciers, permafrost, and snow. Steltzer drew upon experience working in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado near the headwaters of the Colorado River in co-authoring the report's chapter on high mountains. This marks the first time since 1996 that the IPCC has featured a chapter on mountains within one of its reports.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
