Study: Ski resorts, water supply at risk
Effects of global warming predicted by 2085
By PAM ZUBECK THE GAZETTE
Climate change in the next 80 years threatens the Rocky Mountains’ ski resorts and water supply, according to the third annual State of the Rockies Report Card. The study also found minorities and the poor are more likely to live near toxic sites and that there is some disparity in how communities nurture their young. “We’re trying to help define Western issues,” said Caitlin O’Brady, a 2005 Colorado College graduate and research manager for the report. “We want to start a discussion, to engage communities in that discussion.” The report, which covers Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, was researched and compiled by six undergraduate students and two graduates overseen by professor of economics Walter Hecox. Several experts contributed articles. Although past reports have looked at urban sprawl, energy and civic engagement, this year’s study focused on land conservation, resource management, biodiversity, climate change, environmental justice and nurturing youth. Although the 130-page report was given to about 150 people on hand for its unveiling Monday, O’Brady warned that the youth section may contain inaccuracies. In one section that’s being reviewed, El Paso County ranked second-to-last for educational opportunity, based on K-12 public school student-teacher ratios, expenditures per student and dropout rate. It also received a C- for nurturing youth, which gauged family support, teen involvement, healthy surroundings, safe neighborhoods and engaged communities. A Colorado College spokeswoman said correct figures will be released today. Four Colorado counties scored among the top 10 metro counties for teen involvement; six were in the top 10 for family support, and three for educational opportunities. Two — Boulder and Douglas — ranked in the top 10 for healthy sur-
roundings, and one, Elbert, for safe neighborhoods. Arapahoe, Pueblo and Denver counties scored in the bottom 10 metro areas for safe neighborhoods, based on crime rates. Teller and Park counties ranked near the bottom for healthy surroundings in their category of smaller population areas, based on low birthweight babies, life expectancy, number of physicians, depression rates and drug use. Global warming will have a dramatic impact on the Rockies, the report said. Climate change, it said, is caused by fossil fuel combustion that increases atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, trapping heat near the Earth’s surface and leading to higher surface temperatures. The report contains the first study conducted of global warming’s impact on the Rocky Mountain region. The model showed 14 ski areas will see significant snowpack loss, affecting not only tourism but water availability. The model also showed that if emission levels stay the same or increase, summer temperatures will rise by 7 to 10 degrees Celsius, or 13 to 18 degrees Farenheit, and in winter, by 3 to 7 degrees Celsius, or 5 to 13 degrees Farenheit, by 2085. Although it’s trickier to predict the consequences of those temperature increases, the report found that most snowy areas would lose more than 50 percent of their snowpack. “It appears increasingly that nature bats last,” Hecox said in introducing the report. “It’s humbling to think about the consequences to our water system.” The study also analyzed income, race and ethnicity of neighborhoods to determine that people living near toxic pollution sources earn 14 percent less and have a 6 percent higher presence of Hispanics than people not living near those sources. The report is accompanied by a series of lectures that began Monday and continue through Thursday. For details, to to www.coloradocollege. edu/stateoftherockies.