Scientist warns of climate change impact

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Climate change could mean higher temperatures, less winter precipitation and less spring runoff for the Southwest, a climatologist says.

Temperatures in New Mexico could increase by a few degrees by the end of this century, said Gregg Garfin, project manager of the Climate Assessment Project for the Southwest at the University of Arizona.


“It seems very likely that temperatures will continue to increase and probably more rapidly than we’ve seen in the past,” he said Monday.

The warmer weather will cause snowpack to melt earlier each year, and there is a chance less snow will fall, Garfin said. Earlier snowpack melts will mean water supplies will be more vulnerable to evaporation because water will sit longer in reservoirs before it is used, he said during a global warming workshop forum in Las Cruces.

AP