New research indicates that snow cover across the U.S. Northeast is declining as a result of climate change, and that by 2100 as much as 59 percent of the region will not accumulate any snow.
New research indicates that snow cover across the U.S. Northeast is declining as a result of climate change, and that by 2100 as much as 59 percent of the region will not accumulate any snow. The study also found that the transition period from winter to spring — known as the vernal window, or more commonly, mud season — is likely to occur earlier and last longer, with major impacts on rivers and forested ecosystems.
“Historically, an average of 27 percent of the Northeast goes without snow,” Danielle Grogan, a research scientist at the University of New Hampshire and lead author of the new research, said in a statement. “But by the end of the century, states like Connecticut and Pennsylvania could be snow-free.”
The vernal window is an important process that shapes the hydrological character of watersheds across the U.S. Northeast — from the Delaware River to the Charles River watersheds — throughout the spring and into the growing season. The annual pulse of meltwater affects soil moisture and groundwater recharge, moves nutrients from land into rivers, triggers the migration and mating of fish, and plays a role in the budding of vegetation.
Read more at: YaleEnvironment 360
