In some years, atmospheric rivers can account for 30 percent to 50 percent of total precipitation in the West.Ītmospheric rivers existed before carbon emissions began trapping heat and warming our planet, but their impact is different now: Simply put, climate change is making them worse. At lower elevations they replenish depleted soils, and at higher elevations they build up snowpack, which essentially stores water for delivery into the summer and fall. Their scientific definition can sound technical, but they’re basically long, narrow bands of moisture that flow through the atmosphere, and they play a vital role in the health of a host of Western ecosystems. The answer is more straightforward than you might expect, but I want to start with some background. It’s natural to ask, “Is climate change causing all this?”īut the right question is, “How is climate change affecting all this?” Weather is erratic and memories can be skewed, but clearly something is different. This year’s storms have seemed worse than many people remember, and the data back that up: This winter we’ve set new records for snowpack, rainfall intensity, snowfall. They can plow across the rest of the country, dumping more rain and snow when conditions are right, like they were earlier this week in the Northeast. Our atmospheric rivers don’t always stop at the Sierras.
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