Colorado River flow shrinks from climate crisis, risking ‘severe water shortages’

Millions of people rely on the 1,450-mile waterway as increasing periods of drought and rising temperatures reduce flow of river

The flow of the Colorado River is dwindling due to the impacts of global heating, risking "severe water shortages" for the millions of people who rely upon one of America's most storied waterways, researchers have found.

Increasing periods of drought and rising temperatures have been shrinking the flow of the Colorado in recent years and scientists have now developed a model to better understand how the climate crisis is fundamentally changing the 1,450-mile waterway.