Purpose of Review

Highlight significant developments that have recently been made to enhance our understanding of how snow responds to climate forcing and the role that snow plays in the climate system.

Recent Findings

Widespread snow loss has occurred in recent decades, with the largest decreases in spring. These changes are primarily driven by temperature and precipitation, but changes in vegetation, light-absorbing impurities, and sea ice also contribute to variability. Changes in snow cover can also affect climate through the snow albedo feedback (SAF). Recently, considerable progress has been made in better understanding the processes contributing to SAF. We also highlight advances in knowledge of how snow variability is linked to large-scale atmospheric changes. Lastly, large-scale snow losses are expected to continue under climate change in all but the coldest climates. These projected changes to snow raise considerable concerns over future freshwater availability in snow-dominated watersheds.

Summary

The results discussed here demonstrate the widespread implications that changes to snow have on the climate system and anthropogenic activity at large.

中文翻译：

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下雪和气候：反馈，驱动因素和变化指数

审查目的

重点介绍最近取得的重大进展，以增进我们对雪如何响应气候强迫以及雪在气候系统中的作用的理解。

最近的发现

近几十年来发生了广泛的降雪，春季降雪量最大。这些变化主要是由温度和降水驱动的，但是植被，吸光杂质和海冰的变化也会导致变化。积雪的变化也会通过反照率反雪（SAF）影响气候。最近，在更好地理解有助于SAF的过程方面取得了可观的进步。我们还着重介绍了如何将积雪变化与大规模大气变化联系起来的知识。最后，除最冷的气候外，在所有其他气候变化的影响下，大规模的降雪仍将继续。这些预计的降雪变化使人们对未来以雪为主要流域的淡水供应量产生了极大的担忧。

概要

此处讨论的结果表明，降雪对气候系统和整个人类活动的广泛影响。