Snow Cover Changes

Seasonal snow covers a large fraction of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) land area (and some Southern Hemisphere mountain regions) for periods of up to 10 months of the year and is an integral part of the landscape, climate, hydrology, ecology, and economy. A snow cover (duration, depth) and its physical properties (albedo, density, crystal structure, etc.) represent an integrated response of physical processes to a number of external climate/environmental drivers. Greenhouse gas‐induced warming and moistening of mid‐ to high latitudes, increased incoming longwave radiation, and Arctic green‐up are all drivers of a changing snow cover, and there is growing evidence from surface and satellite observations of significant changes in seasonal snow cover: significant declines in spring snow cover duration are observed across the NH, and significant decreases in winter snowpack are observed over mid‐latitudes, particularly coastal mountains. Trends in snow cover simulated by climate models are for the most part consistent with observations but underestimate the observed rates of decrease in Arctic spring snow cover. Climate models have improved but important sources of uncertainty remain related to snow albedo feedbacks, high latitude precipitation, and inadequate treatment of landscape‐dependent snow processes.

Albedo (alchemy) · Arctic · Atmospheric sciences · Climate change · Climatology · Cryosphere · Geography · Latitude · Meteorology · Northern Hemisphere · Physical geography · Precipitation · Sea ice · Snow · Snow cover · Snow field · Snow line · Snowmelt · Snowpack · Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics · Climate change and permafrost · Cryospheric studies and observations · Environmental Science · Geology · Oceanography

• The Changing Face of Arctic Snow Cover

  Open Access•Terry V Callaghan, Margareta Johansson et al.•AMBIO•2011

  Add to list