Melting to the max

摘要

As the climate warms, a larger proportion of precipitation is likely to take the form of rain and less as snow. The snow that does still accumulate on mountains during winter will subsequently melt faster in the spring, increasing peak discharge and flood risk. Amilcare Porporato and his colleagues at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, used a model to calculate how seasonal temperature affects snow accumulation, melting and mountain run-off.