A map illustrating the precipitation forecast of the 2010-2011 Winter Weather Outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with La Niña a crucial factor.
Rocky Mountain Climate
2010-2011 NOAA Winter Weather Temperature Outlook
A map displaying NOAA’s temperature forecast from its 2010-2011 Winter Weather Outlook, with La Niña a key climate factor.
Climate change may alter Yellowstone meadows, plant diversity
Researchers measured the changes in the Yellowstone meadow plant community from 1997 to 2007, including a period of extended drought, and found that shrubs (such as sagebrush) that grow in the drier meadows increased, while flowering plants decreased in number.
USGS: Rocky Mountain snowpack declines, springtime warming to worsen, straining water supplies
The latest research was based on snowpack reconstructions from 66 tree-ring chronologies, looking back 500 to more than 1,000 years. A network of sites from north to south in the Rocky Mountains was chosen to characterize the range of natural snowpack variability over the long term.
Mountain pine beetle: Grim Reaper, widowmaker or natural ‘change agent’ for Colorado’s forests?
The tiny mountain pine beetle has feasted on Colorado’s lodgepole pine forests, turning countless acres of trees into dead wood. An autumn presentation on the tiny but powerful bug shed some light on how Colorado’s majestic forests will be impacted by the beetle infestation.
