Sierra Snowpack in Peril

Posted by Catherine Stifter

November 17, 2006

Scientists set up in Sierra to track shrinking snow pack , Carl T Hall writes in the SF Chronicle.

This ought to be a horror story, a five alarm fire, typed in ALL CAPS--shouting it from the mountain tops. But, it's hard to grab folks' attention for something as insidious, slow and deadly as a shrinking snow pack. So we hear all about the plucky scientists who've figured out a way to categorize and measure our doom. It's an important job, to be sure.

The article states that it will take about $2 million a year for 10 years to install the necessary equipment, including devices in trees to monitor sap flow and towers to detect changes in moisture and carbon dioxide in the air. All this because an accurate water accounting in the Sierra will need to be measured in other ways than by a yardstick jammed into the snow (which might not be there). The National Science Foundation kicked in a $600,000 grant to help start the project, which also has drawn support from UC and state water agencies.

And from a reporter's POV, one of the most difficult parts of telling such stories is wondering whether the telling alone will do much good. We aim for some kind of accuracy and balance in reporting, but how do we possibly stay neutral to such news?