From California's towering sand dunes of the Mojave Desert to Nevada's rapidly diminishing Lake Mead Jeff Foott shows both the ramifications of climate change and the stark beauty of these arid environments.
Storms in the west have increased the water levels in Lake Mead but only fractionally. While the reservoir was at 27% capacity over the summer it is only at 28% at the end of January. One concern about the dropping water level is about power. Intake towers for the hydroelectric plant at Hoover Dam are at near record lows which affects the amount of energy generated. Declining water flow has cut the dam’s power generation capacity almost in half over the last ten years.
