Changing Mountains

Colorado’s environment is changing. Indications are everywhere, from devastating wildfires to small furry creatures scampering across mountain rocks. And researchers at Colorado universities are at the forefront of efforts to find answers to a host of issues affecting the West, not only catastrophic events such as the floods of fall 2013, but also less obvious areas such as dust that’s settling on mountain glaciers. Here’s a look at a handful of those issues:

Pikas

Pikas, the small furry animals related to rabbits, are holding their own in the southern Rockies, despite declining in areas such as…