According to a new study published by UCLA climate scientists, climate change will increase extreme rainfall and reduce snowfall in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains by the 2070s.
Photo Source: Kelly M. Grow/California Department of Water Resources
The rising temperatures will likely overwhelm the state’s reservoirs and increase the state’s flood risk.
“When the heavy snow events of the past become heavy rain events in the future— and they’re even bigger than before— downstream communities face a greater risk of flooding,” said Xingying Huang (lead author and postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Climate Science in the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability).
Read the full story at UCLA Newsroom.
Research team:
Xiying Huang, postdoctoral scholar, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Samantha Stevenson, assistant professor, UC Santa Barbara Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
Alex D. Hall, professor, UCLA Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Related research:
UCLA researchers predict more intense atmospheric rivers for California, with consequences for flooding and water supply. UCLA Grand Challenges. August 14, 2020
