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Shrinking Snowpack

Study indicates freshwater sources could be threatened in Northern Hemisphere. Watch the video.

November 12, 2012

Noah Diffenbaugh on snowmelt and climate change

Snowpack, an essential source of drinking water and agricultural irrigation for billions of people, could shrink significantly within the next 30 years, according to a study led by Stanford climate change researcher Noah Diffenbaugh.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, forecasts the effect of climate change on Northern Hemisphere snowpack through the 21st century in the Western United States, Alpine Europe, Central Asia and downstream of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. The news is particularly troubling for snowpack-dependent California – the largest producer of agriculture products in the country and the sixth-largest agriculture exporter in the world. Read the full story.