Climate change disrupting natural cycles at drier Lake Tahoe
ABC News
Drought fueled by climate change has dropped Lake Tahoe below its natural rim and halted flows into the Truckee River
TAHOE CITY, Calif. -- Drought fueled by climate change has dropped Lake Tahoe below its natural rim and halted flows into the Truckee River, an historically cyclical event that’s occurring sooner and more often than it used to — raising fears about what might be in store for the famed alpine lake.
Scientists are concerned that the growing frequency of low-water extremes may become the new normal.
They point to seasonal shifts in weather patterns causing precipitation that historically falls as snow to arrive in the form of rain atop the Sierra along the California-Nevada state line.
“Our summers are lasting longer. Springs are coming sooner,” said Gregory Schladow, a water resource and environmental engineering professor who is the founding director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
