NEWS AND VIEWS
29 May 2024

Why snow is crucial for water supply — and what will happen when it becomes scarce

Analysis of 70 years of snowfall in the Northern Hemisphere reveals that snow buffers the effect of varying precipitation levels on streamflow. The link highlights the need to rethink water-resource management as snow levels decline.

Karen R. Ryberg ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9834-2046⁰

Karen R. Ryberg
1. Karen R. Ryberg is at the US Geological Survey, Bismarck, North Dakota 58503, USA.
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For some, the idea of a snow-dwindling world might inspire nostalgia for a youth spent on skis, or create concern that winter sports could soon be impossible. For others, the association might be positive — implying less snow removal, fewer winter road hazards and warmer temperatures. Others still might be fearful of shortages in the world’s water supply. Writing in Nature, Han et al.¹ address this third perspective by investigating the way that reduced snow will affect streamflow seasonality — the periodic changes in the way that water flows through streams from the land to the sea (Fig. 1).

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Nature 629, 1013-1014 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01239-6

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