Discussion
‘On a whole other level’: rapid snow melt-off in American west stuns scientists
bayarearefugee: Shouldn't we be past being "stunned"? The past 11 years are the hottest 11 years on record.Climate catastrophe is coming, soon. Everybody knows this, even the vocal deniers (the ones with power, not the sheep they feed propaganda to). They've simply decided to profit off it instead of trying to slow it down.The "drill, baby, drill", "clean beautiful coal" lunacy and wanting to invade Greenland and Canada are all directly related.
lazystar: I don't see the point in comparing photos of snow coverage in feb 2026 to the same area in march 2026. March is a spring month, of course snow coverage will be worse. Itd be more shocking if the snow coverage increased. they should show march 2026 vs. march 2025/2024/2023 etc.
mikestew: “March is often a big month for snowstorms,” Schumacher said. “Instead of getting snow we would normally expect we got this unprecedented, way-off-the-scale warmth.” (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/01/snowmelt-ame...)Beside that, the measurements are of how much moisture is left to melt off:It’s not just the amount of snow left on mountaintops that’s concerning experts, but the amount of moisture still frozen within them. “Snow water equivalent” (SWE), a measurement of what could melt off to supply natural and manmade systems, is exceptionally low.
ctoa: Where I'm at in the Sierras, March is typically very close to as snowy as Dec/Jan/Feb and the snowpack is still increasing, not decreasing. Late March is typically the peak depth. March avg snowfall is 62", this year we got 1", the driest March on record, on top of it being incredibly warm.
georgeburdell: California peak snowpack is historically April 1.
neura: Yes, it would be great if there were literally any other comparison other than repeated but slightly different views of Feb vs Mar in 2026 only.
ourmandave: I was naively hoping they were stunned because it wasn't as much as they expected.
realo: The polar bears are drowning up north.I would say climate catastrophe is already here... at least for them.
lapetitejort: As a naive tourist, I did not know this. I drove up to Sequoia National Park in March 2011 hoping to camp. The roads were plowed, with eight feet tall snow on either side of the road. I drove up to a visitor center and asked where to camp. The park ranger said I could camp anywhere I wanted. Maybe he assumed I knew what I was doing. But I did not. After walking around the parking lot for a bit, with nowhere else to go, I drove out.
hervature: The polar bear population has steadily been increasing since the 1960s [1]. Basically double what it was. The more falsifiable information you use the less you are helping the cause.[1] - https://thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2024/02/Crockford-State-...
tinyplanets: This report was published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation, which according to Wikipedia "is a climate change denial lobby group registered as a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated aims are to challenge what it calls "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming. The GWPF, and some of its prominent members individually, practise and promote climate change denial."https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Global_Warming_Policy_Foun...So it sounds like they (and I assume you) definitely have an agenda you're trying to promote.
ceejayoz: Speaking of falsifiable info:https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/01/27/fac...> Experts say the rising tally of polar bears reflects an increased ability to track bears – not an actual increase in the population. The graph is based on various estimates of the global population that include unscientific estimates, extrapolation and insufficient data sets, according to scientists.
czinck: Yes, winters are getting worse and worse, but this year was really bad, way worse than any predictions. I was in Park City in February and there was so little snow it looked like summer, and that was before the streak of warm weather this article is talking about. I literally hiked up to the 2002/2034 Olympic facilities in 55 degree weather with no snow on the ground, while the Olympics were still going on in Milan. And I was in Park City because they had more snow than Colorado...
singleshot_: March is a spring month at sea level.
vuggamie: Incredible observation. Seasons begin and end on different days depending on sea level. I was under the impression that the first two thirds of March was winter at every elevation in the northern hemisphere. singleshot_ has added much to this conversation. You cannot tell AI slopposters from regular hn users because they all get out of the house the same amount of time.
Reubachi: Conversly in east, wettest/snowiest jan-march on recent record. Today, april second, we got snow in coastal new hampshire.Which of course isn't an antithesis to the lack of snow in the west, and likely is literally the flip side of the "same problem". but interesting
rconti: 11" of snow in the Sierra on April 1, as well!
blipvert: Can’t remember the exact quote, but there is something in The Omen II about future wars being fought over food (Thorn corporation being involved in agriculture/fertiliser or something).Last time that I saw it I wondered if the Ukraine conflict might be about control of the “Breadbasket of Europe” as much as anything.
everdrive: But of course Thomas Malthus was wrong about everything and we just keep need to growing populations.
vuggamie: Spring starts the last week of March. lazystar out there in floral print dresses on March first looking like an absolute tool. Enjoy your train set!
patchorang: There are quite a few comments here talking about how comparing images from feb/march isn’t useful. Here’s data on what’s going on. This snowtel location is within the Utah picture in the article.https://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov/dbdata/station/swegraph/swegraph_...
UncleOxidant: Where can I find similar data for the Columbia River basin? That's where we're going to see large impacts on hydropower production come mid-to-late summer, I suspect. Impacts for the PNW and CA.
FpUser: We have tremendous water, folks, tremendous. The best water. You look at Canada: beautiful water, big water ... It’s just sitting there! Not fair, not fair. We should be getting some of that water. It’ll be huge.
mschaef: From the sound of it, You may know this already, but there was a 1950's era plan to do something very similar to what you imply here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Water_and_Power...
patchorang: In the filter you can change the SNOTEL site. You probably need to pull up a snotel site map and find one in the region you’re interested in.
