Santa Fe Newspaper Reports On Climate Study Webinar
July 23, 2021
Bureau of Geology Director Dr. Nelia Dunbar discusses harsh realities of ongoing drought in New Mexico
Reporter Scott Wyland of the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper wrote a detailed news article about a climate webinar hosted by Dr. Nelia Dunbar, director of the Bureau of Geology at NMT, and Rolf Schmidt-Petersen, director of the Interstate Stream Commission. The pair of scientists discussed the third phase of the 50-year water plan commissioned by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Here is an excerpt from the article with a link to the full story at the bottom of this page.
Officials: New Mexico must prepare for less water in next half-century
The warming climate that has kept New Mexico in a drought for the past 20 years and is depleting water supplies will continue into the next half-century and must shape long-term planning, state officials said in a virtual hearing Wednesday.
One expert painted a grim picture of what the state will grapple with in the next
50 years — temperatures rising as much as 7 degrees, drier soils reducing runoff and
the recharging of aquifers, higher evaporation and lower river flows, more intense
wildfires leaving landscapes barren and more vulnerable to erosion, and warming waters
becoming more prone to bacterial outbreaks.
(Pictured at right is Dr. Nelia Dunbar.)
In short, the quantity and quality of water will decrease substantially in the state unless effective measures are taken.
"The impact of climate change on New Mexico's water resources is, unfortunately, quite overwhelmingly negative," said Nelia Dunbar, director of the state Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.
In the webinar, Dunbar and Rolf Schmidt-Petersen, director of the Interstate Stream Commission, discussed the harsh realities of what has been called a megadrought gripping the Southwest as the world faces a reckoning for the massive greenhouse gases spewed into the atmosphere in the past 150 years.
Their presentation kicked off the third phase of a 50-year water plan Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has called for in response to New Mexico's climate crisis. ...
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