Seasonal snow is an important part of Earth's climate system. If spring arrives too early, hibernating animals may miss out on crucial early spring food.īy studying snow, how it forms, where it falls, and how the snowpack changes over time, scientists can better understand how snow affects our planet and our society. If frost kills flowers, then there is no nectar or pollen for bees and other pollinators, and no seeds for animals. Increasingly common, false starts to spring stretch beyond the Arctic into many other parts of the globe, leaving plants, insects, migratory birds, and even crops vulnerable to subsequent freezes. This is most apparent in the Arctic, but with the Arctic warming two to three times the rate of the rest of the planet, animals like the snowshoe hares, which are white during winter and brown during summer, are more easily susceptible to predators because snow is melting earlier while many hares are still wearing their white coats. Some animals have evolved to use snow as camouflage. Snow also affects wildlife migration, hibernation, and survival. A study published in 2020 identifies global snow-drought hotspots-eastern Russia, Europe, and the western United States-where snow droughts were longer and more intense in the second half of the 1980 to 2018 period.įor current drought conditions in the United States, go to. It also means lower generation of hydropower. In areas that get a large majority of their water from winter snowpacks, snow droughts could mean lower water availability in the spring and summer. Credit: Bureau of Land Managementīeyond weather and climate, snow has far-reaching effects on people because of snow’s importance to global food, water, travel hazards, avalanche risks, and infrastructure design. Exchange for Observations and Local Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA)ĭuring a snowstorm, children run on the Iditarod Trail in Alaska, which is comprised of a 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) main trail between Seward and Nome, and an additional 2,250 kilometers (1,400) miles of side/connecting trails that link communities and historic sites, or provide parallel route, for outdoor recreation, conservation, and public enjoyment.NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC).
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