Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Thursday, February 27th, 2020

Colorado River Basin is Drying Up in ‘Potentially Catastrophic’ Impact of Climate Change

Author:     KASHMIRA GANDER
Source:     Newsweek
Publication Date:     2/21/20 AT 1:03 PM EST
 Link: Colorado River Basin is Drying Up in ‘Potentially Catastrophic’ Impact of Climate Change
Stephan:   The Colorado River provides 40 million people, and the most productive farmland in America with water. Sixteen million jobs are directly linked to the river and that water. Recent well-conducted studies show not only the declining water level of the river but a massive onrushing depletion crisis for which we are not prepared. Seven states and 17 miles of shared border with Mexico are going to be severely impacted.

The Colorado river at Horseshoe Bend, Page, Arizona.
Credit: Getty

Potential future drops in the volume of water flowing in the Colorado River due to climate change could have catastrophic consequences, an expert has warned Newsweek.

Brad Udall, senior water and climate research scientist at Colorado State University, made the comments regarding a paper published in the journal Science.

The study highlighted that climate change appears to have led to the loss of snow in the Colorado River Basin, which in turn is thought to have caused the body of water to absorb more solar energy, meaning more water evaporates.

The Colorado River has been suffering a drought due to higher temperatures since 2000, and researchers warn if trends of its flow dwindling continue there is a risk of severe water shortages for the around 40 million people and 16 million jobs it supports.

RELATED STORIES

1 Comment

  1. Rev. Dean on Thursday, February 27, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    My question is will the Republicans understand this meaningful problem and decide to do something about it?