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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

‘Snow droughts’ followed by extreme heat are striking more of the planet

A dearth of snowpack can make the air and soil ripe for heatwaves.
The mountains along Highway 88 are mostly bare of snow in Hope Valley, California, U.S. on April 7, 2022.

This year, peaks in California were almost devoid of snow in early April, when the snowpack is typically at its highest. Credit: George Rose/Getty

As Earth warms, a growing proportion of the globe is experiencing low snowpack levels towards the end of winter that are followed by heatwaves1.

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Nature 607, 215 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01846-1

References

  1. Li, X. & Wang, S. Geophys. Res. Lett. 49, e2022GL099925 (2022).

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