The Rio Grande has gone dry in Big Bend

 Ethan Zweig

Mr. Roddy 

IHSS

May 17, 2022

The Rio Grande Goes Dry in Big Bend


The Rio Grande, the life-giving stream in a desert land that has sustained many human communities and creatures found nowhere else in the continent. This April and May, the river has gone dry in some parts of Big Bend National Park. This isn’t the first time it has happened, but the forces that have killed the river this spring aren’t likely to become less intense. That means that this could become a regular occurrence. The current conditions could be impacting about 75 or more miles of the river. A gauge in the river registered zero flow on April 15 and for a two week period starting April 19. For the last two decades the American West has been the driest it has ever been in 1,200 years which is the main reason for the dryness in the Rio Grande. This is mostly caused by climate change, the hotter and drier seasons reducing snowpack, and rising temperatures increasing evaporation. The only thing that can bring the river back to life is a lot of rainfall, which is what people from the Southwest are hoping for. 





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