National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Western U.S. Faces Drought Crisis, Warming Study Says


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A new study shows that snowpacks are decreasing, rivers are flowing earlier (CT, or center of timing, refers to the day of the year one-half of the total water year flow has occurred), and temperatures are increasing in the U.S. West.

Those changes are caused by global warming and will continue, scientists say, setting the stage for a dramatic water crisis.

Image courtesy of David W. Pierce, SIO; land image courtesy of NASA's Earth Observatory/provided by Science