Environment of Wyoming
Encyclopedia
Wyoming
straddles the Continental Divide
, and its abrupt topographic relief includes alternating basins and mountain ranges. Major mountain ranges include the Beartooth
, Gros Ventre, Teton
, Wind River
, Bighorn
, Sierra Madre
, and Medicine Bow
. Internal basins and eastern plains are rolling to flat, and in the east are the Great Plain.
Typical vegetation includes sagebrush
, greasewood
, and saltbush shrub
s in the intermountain basins, grasses on the Great Plains, juniper
and mountain mahogany
in the foothills, and forest and alpine meadow
s in the mountains.
, has increased 1.5 F-change, and precipitation has decreased by up to 20% in many parts of the state.
Over the next century, climate in Wyoming may change even more. For example, based on projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
and results from
the United Kingdom Hadley Centre’s climate model (HadCM2), a model that accounts for both greenhouse gases and aerosols, by 2100 temperatures in Wyoming could increase by 4°F in spring
and fall (with a range of 2-7°F), 5°F in summer (with a range of 2- 8°F), and 6°F in winter (with a range of 3-11°F). Precipitation is estimated to decrease slightly in summer (with a range of 0-10%), increase by 10% in spring and fall (with a range of 5-20%), and increase by 30% in winter (with a range of 10-50%). Other climate models may show different results, especially regarding estimated changes in precipitation. The impacts described in the sections
that follow take into account estimates from different models. The amount of precipitation on extreme wet or snowy days in winter is likely to increase. The frequency of extreme hot days in summer would increase because of the general warming trend. It is not clear how the severity of storms might be affected, although an increase in the frequency and intensity of winter storms is possible.
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
straddles the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
, and its abrupt topographic relief includes alternating basins and mountain ranges. Major mountain ranges include the Beartooth
Beartooth Mountains
The Beartooth Mountains are located in south central Montana and northwest Wyoming, U.S. and are part of the 900,000 acre Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, within Custer, Gallatin and Shoshone National Forests. The Beartooths are the location of Granite Peak, which at 12,807 feet is the highest...
, Gros Ventre, Teton
Teton Range
The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. A north-south range, it is on the Wyoming side of the state's border with Idaho, just south of Yellowstone National Park. Most of the range is in Grand Teton National Park....
, Wind River
Wind River Range
The Wind River Range , is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW-SE for approximately 100 miles . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and includes Gannett Peak, which at 13,804 feet , is the highest peak...
, Bighorn
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
, Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre Range (Wyoming)
The Sierra Madre Range is located in south-central Wyoming. Geologically, it may be considered an extension of the Park Range or Front Range of Colorado. Its terrain lies within the US Continental Divide. Its western basins drain into the Colorado River and its eastern into the North Platte River...
, and Medicine Bow
Medicine Bow Mountains
The Medicine Bow Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains that extend for from northern Colorado into southern Wyoming. The northern extent of this range is the sub-range the Snowy Range...
. Internal basins and eastern plains are rolling to flat, and in the east are the Great Plain.
Typical vegetation includes sagebrush
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...
, greasewood
Greasewood
Greasewood, Sarcobatus, is a genus of one or two species of flowering plants. Traditionally it has been treated in the family Chenopodiaceae, but the APG II system, of 2003, places it in the family Sarcobataceae....
, and saltbush shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s in the intermountain basins, grasses on the Great Plains, juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
and mountain mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
in the foothills, and forest and alpine meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
s in the mountains.
Climate change
Over the last century, the average temperature in Laramie, WyomingLaramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
, has increased 1.5 F-change, and precipitation has decreased by up to 20% in many parts of the state.
Over the next century, climate in Wyoming may change even more. For example, based on projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
and results from
the United Kingdom Hadley Centre’s climate model (HadCM2), a model that accounts for both greenhouse gases and aerosols, by 2100 temperatures in Wyoming could increase by 4°F in spring
and fall (with a range of 2-7°F), 5°F in summer (with a range of 2- 8°F), and 6°F in winter (with a range of 3-11°F). Precipitation is estimated to decrease slightly in summer (with a range of 0-10%), increase by 10% in spring and fall (with a range of 5-20%), and increase by 30% in winter (with a range of 10-50%). Other climate models may show different results, especially regarding estimated changes in precipitation. The impacts described in the sections
that follow take into account estimates from different models. The amount of precipitation on extreme wet or snowy days in winter is likely to increase. The frequency of extreme hot days in summer would increase because of the general warming trend. It is not clear how the severity of storms might be affected, although an increase in the frequency and intensity of winter storms is possible.
External links
- Department of Environmental Quality (State of Wyoming).
- Western Regional Air Partnership
- Wyoming Outdoor Council
- Environment and Natural Resources Program (University of WyomingUniversity of WyomingThe University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
)