Climate change is drying up the Colorado River, putting millions at risk of 'severe water shortages'

[Judi Lynn]

CNN Digital Expansion 2016
Andrew Kann
By Drew Kann, CNN

Updated 5:24 PM ET, Fri February 21, 2020

(CNN)The Colorado River -- which provides water to more than 40 million people from Denver to Los Angeles -- has seen its flow dwindle by 20 percent compared to the last century, and scientists have found that climate change is mainly to blame.

The Colorado River wraps around Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona. A new study finds that this vital river is in grave danger due to rising temperatures.

The researchers found that more than half of the decline in the river's flow is connected to increasing temperatures, and as warming continues, they say the risk of "severe water shortages" for the millions that rely on it is expected to grow.

For each 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit of warming averaged across the river's basin, the study found that its flow has decreased by nearly 10%. Over the course of the 20th and early 21st centuries, the region has already warmed by an average of roughly 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

More:
https://us.cnn.com/2020/02/21/weather/colorado-river-flow-dwindling-warming-temperatures-climate-change/index.html

[progree]

1. And this kind of thing is happening worldwide. On top of that, mountain snow and ice that keep

Last edited Sat Feb 22, 2020, 12:30 PM - Edit history (1)

many rivers flowing during the summer and fall are permanently shrinking, e.g. the ones feeding the rivers that irrigate California, Pakistan, India, China to name a few of the ones most known for that.