Young et al. (2025) Decreasing Snow Cover and Increasing Temperatures Are Accelerating in New England, USA, with Long-Term Implications

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Identification

• Journal: Climate
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-04
• Authors: Stephen Young, Joshua S. Young
• DOI: 10.3390/cli13120246

Research Groups

Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study evaluates temperature increases and snow cover declines in New England, finding significant warming since the late 1980s, particularly in winter and at night, alongside a rapid decrease in snow cover, with an accelerating trend in recent years.

Objective

• To evaluate the rate at which temperatures are rising and snow cover is declining in New England.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: New England region, United States, including its six constituent states.
• Temporal Scale: Temperature data from 1900 to 2025; MODIS satellite data from 2000 to 2025.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Univariate Differencing, Mann–Kendall test, Time series regression analysis.
• Data sources: United States Historical Climatological Network (USHCN) for monthly mean air temperature (minimum, average, maximum); MODIS/Terra satellite data (MOD13C3 for Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity, MOD10C2 for Snow Cover) at 0.05 degree resolution.

Main Results

• Three distinct periods of temperature change were identified, with most of the warming occurring since the late 1980s.
• Strong seasonal variations show winter warming almost twice as fast as any other season.
• Minimum (nighttime) temperatures are rising faster than maximum (daytime) temperatures, especially since the 1980s.
• Snow cover is decreasing throughout New England, with southern New England experiencing a rapid loss of 30–40% of snow cover days between 2000 and 2025.
• A strong inverse relationship exists between snow cover change and land surface temperature change, indicating that snow cover loss is a factor contributing to warming in New England.
• An acceleration of temperature increase and snow cover decline has been observed in the past 5-year period.

Contributions

• Provides a comprehensive, multi-decadal analysis of temperature and snow cover trends in New England, identifying specific seasonal and diurnal warming patterns.
• Quantifies significant snow cover loss and establishes a direct link between snow cover decline and regional warming.
• Highlights an accelerating trend in both temperature increase and snow cover decline in recent years, offering critical insights for regional climate change impacts.

Funding

Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Young2025Decreasing,
  author = {Young, Stephen and Young, Joshua S.},
  title = {Decreasing Snow Cover and Increasing Temperatures Are Accelerating in New England, USA, with Long-Term Implications},
  journal = {Climate},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/cli13120246},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/cli13120246}
}