Posted: Sunday, September 25, 2005 12:00 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Climate change may be a global problem, but a study released Thursday suggests it will also bring changes to the arid American West and could threaten Utah's ski industry.
The report from the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, a Colorado-based group monitoring regional climate changes, predicts snowpack and snowmelt in the Colorado River Basin could decline by as much as 24 percent by 2039 and up to 30 percent by 2069.
"In the West, no other effect of climate disruption rivals in importance how it endangers our already too-scarce snowpacks and water supplies," the study said. "With the inherent vulnerability of the dry West to even small changes in the snow-water cycle, these risks alone present ample reason for Westerners to take action to protect this special region."
In Utah, where the snowpack provides winter recreation and million of dollars in income from skiers, a declining snowfall is reason for concern. The annual snowpack is also critical because it is the main source of water to the state's streams, rivers and reservoirs.
But the state's chief snowpack scientist says the decades of data he has seen does not indicate a pending disaster. In fact, he says Utah's snowpack has not declined in the past 30 years.
"Here in the state of Utah we have not seen that," said Randy Julander, snow survey supervisor for the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Salt Lake City.
Julander's observations followed a news conference at the Salt Lake library where study findings were released.
Among the findings:
* Snowpack levels in the Colorado River Basin have been below average in 11 of 16 years, a trend also seen in basins of the Colombia, Missouri and Rio Grand rivers;
* Temperatures in each of those regions have been higher during the last five years than at any other time in the past 110 years; and
* Between 1995 and 2004 the extent of warming was greatest in January, February and March.
Area resort operators say they are always prepared for short-term fluctuations in snow totals, but that longer-term forecasts are troubling.
"Our mantra is 'The Greatest Snow on Earth,' said Onno Wieringa, general manager of Alta Ski Area. "We don't want it to become 'Warm, wet and less.' "