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Rhoades, Alan M., Hatchett, Benjamin J., Risser, Mark D., Collins, William D. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4463-9848, Bambach, Nicolas E., Huning, Laurie S., McCrary, Rachel, Siirila-Woodburn, Erica R., Ullrich, Paul A., Wehner, Michael F., Zarzycki, Colin M. and Jones, Andrew D.
(2022)
Asymmetric emergence of low-to-no snow in the midlatitudes of the American Cordillera.
Nature Climate Change, 12 (12).
pp. 1151-1159.
ISSN 1758-678X
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Abstract
Societies and ecosystems within and downstream of mountains rely on seasonal snowmelt to satisfy their water demands. Anthropogenic climate change has reduced mountain snowpacks worldwide, altering snowmelt magnitude and timing. Here the global warming level leading to widespread and persistent mountain snowpack decline, termed low-to-no snow, is estimated for the world’s most latitudinally contiguous mountain range, the American Cordillera. We show that a combination of dynamical, thermodynamical and hypsometric factors results in an asymmetric emergence of low-to-no-snow conditions within the midlatitudes of the American Cordillera. Low-to-no-snow emergence occurs approximately 20 years earlier in the southern hemisphere, at a third of the local warming level, and coincides with runoff efficiency declines (8% average) in both dry and wet years. The prevention of a low-to-no-snow future in either hemisphere requires the level of global warming to be held to, at most, +2.5 °C.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Data availability: The post-processed data used in this analysis are available via a publicly accessible Science Gateway at the US Department of Energy’s NERSC (https://portal.nersc.gov/archive/home/a/arhoades/Shared/www/NCC_2022). Code availability: The analysis code for this study is available via a publicly accessible Science Gateway at the US Department of Energy’s NERSC (https://portal.nersc.gov/archive/home/a/arhoades/Shared/www/NCC_2022). |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | environmental science (miscellaneous),social sciences (miscellaneous),sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2301 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Jul 2026 10:43 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jul 2026 05:37 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103828 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41558-022-01518-y |
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