• Water

“Glacier Blood” Threatens Mountain Ecosystems as High Altitude Temperatures Rise

• glaciers
• snow

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer “Glacier blood,” or “watermelon snow,” is sweeping across the Alps, and researchers are eager to survey the snow to figure out what’s responsible for the mysterious phenomenon—the culprit: algal blooms. A new study has found that the same algae that cause dreaded red tide are now blooming en masse on mountains worldwide. […]

• Weather

Snowstorms Shut Down Power, Delay Vaccines Across Southern U.S.

• Arctic
• cold
• COVID vaccines
• ice
• Polar Vortex
• power outages
• snow

After snowstorms swept across the South this week, 14 states are expecting power outages, frozen roads, and dangerous conditions. Hundreds of millions will be impacted by the storm.  Millions will be experiencing rolling blackouts in the coming days due to stress on the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).

Why This Matters: Although it might seem that this polar vortex is an exception to global temperature rise, research says that erratic, far-reaching polar systems like the one we’re seeing now can be directly related to warming temperatures in the Arctic.

• Weather

BRRRR – Global Warming Could Cause Polar Vortex to Blast the U.S. With Cold Air

• Arctic
• climate change
• jet stream
• Polar Vortex
• science
• snow

Above the North Pole, a polar vortex — a swirling flurry of cold air — could cause weeks of frigid weather in the Eastern United States, Northern Europe, and East Asia according to forecasters. Snow blanketed Spain over the weekend, dumping nearly two feet of snow on Madrid — the most snow in the last 50 years there.  Madrid

Why this Matters:  While many associate global warming with hotter weather, climate change can also cause harsher, more snowy winters.

• Politics

How to Turn Skiers into Climate Voters

• climate change
• skiing
• snow
• winter

Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains has been alarmingly low this year and while the rest of the West hasn’t had as dire of a situation, since 1982, some parts of the West have a 41% reduction in the yearly maximum mass of snow. For the skiing industry, climate change is a true existential threat–though […]

• Climate Change

One Ridiculous Thing: Helicoptering In Snow

• climate change
• skiing
• snow

We have heard of helicopter skiing, but this month a French ski resort had to resort to helicoptering in the snow itself, CNN reported. Apparently, it was too warm to even make snow on the mountain so the Superbagnères resort in the Pyrenees had a helicopter delivering bundles of snow to the area in order […]

• Weather

What Happened to Winter? Why 2020’s On Track to be the Warmest Winter Ever.

• climate change
• snow
• winter

If you live in DC you’re probably like us and have been wondering what the heck happened to winter this year. You’re not alone, according to NBC News, In Japan, record low snowfall has forced ski resorts to close prematurely. In Finland, forests that would normally be stark and bare at this time of year […]