By: Jeff Dickey-Chasins
If it’s winter in Connecticut, it is likely that you will experience snow. However, how muchsnow, when, and for how long has changed over the past 300 years – and climate change is accelerating those changes Yet many of us may not understand how snow cover in Connecticut affects the plants and animals that live in our forests. Let’s take a closer look.
Snow cover provides several key benefits: it recharges groundwater, rivers, and reservoirs; it provides thermal insulation from freezing for tree seedlings and roots; supports tourism and winter recreation; and benefits the plants and animals that have adapted to it over hundreds or even thousands of years. For example, fruit trees in Connecticut need the protection of snow cover as well as enough chilling hours to produce buds at the right time of the season.
In combination with overall air temperature, snow cover also helps to control certain types of insects that may damage the forest, such as invasive pests like Adelges tsugae (Hemlock Woolly Adelgid) and Dendroctonus frontalis (Southern Pine Beetle).
Both the amount of snow cover and its frequency have changed over the last 100 years (historically, over 50% of the northern hemisphere had winter snow cover), and these changes appear to be accelerating. In fact, New England has warmed more than 2.5 °C since 1900, with 75% of this warming occurring since the late 1980s. The corresponding loss in winter coldness means more periods of freezing and thawing, and more precipitation falling as rain rather than snow. Climate change in New England is being driven by increasing greenhouse gases, a weakening of the Labrador ocean current (which brings cold water from the Arctic), and the snow-albedo feedback effect – where the warming climate causes faster snow melt, which in turn means higher temperatures because of less reflection of solar energy.
How does this affect our forests? First, it becomes more challenging for existing trees to survive, because snow-free soil allows much deeper frost penetration – thus damaging or killing roots. This kills trees such as the sugar maple and yellow birch and lowers the quality of the forest soil. Snow also provides insulation for the tunnels and burrows of such prey animals as mice and voles. With less snow cover, their populations may drop – and in turn affect the numbers of their predators, such as foxes and owls.
There is a direct economic impact of lost snow cover on logging and outdoor recreation – activities such as skiing, ice fishing, and snowmobiling contribute $4.6 billion to the Northeast economy. Current estimates suggest that by 2050, snowfall in the Northeast could decrease 50% from current levels.
We may not always like cold, snowy winters like our current one – but we should probably appreciate them as long as we can.