Climate change, water shortages conspire to create 21st century Dust Bowl

Submitted by hlowengard on Thu, 06/04/2009 - 20:56.
12/31/1969 - 20:33
Etc/GMT-4
Story Link: 
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/05/14/14greenwire-climate-change-water-shortages-conspire-to-cre-12208.html
Source: 
NY Times
Pub Date: 
14 May 2009
Category: 
National
Experts at the Snow Optics Laboratory at the University of Utah are
predicting that snowpacks from the San Juan Mountains to the Front Range
of the Rocky Mountains will be completely melted within the next two
weeks. The reason for the early snowmelt is a rash of dust storms,
attributed to a warming and drying western climate, that are blanketing
snow with dust, darkening the snow, and causing it to melt more quickly.
The rapidly melting snow is causing some water managers to release water
from reservoirs to make room for incoming volumes and is projected to
cause serious water shortages for the rest of the year after the
snowmelt disappears.