As Roaring Fork Valley residents navigate this winter’s low precipitation, leaders at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) are warning that shifting average temperatures are also a significant concern. At the beginning of the month, Forest and Climate Director Adam McCurdy noted the asymmetric warming trend in ACES’ monthly “Wild Tracks” newsletter. Asymmetric warming […]
climate change
Posted inEnvironment
Roaring Fork Watershed faces ‘exceptional’ drought
January 2026 began with a drought that persisted through 2025. Signs were already apparent last winter, which saw the lowest average snowpack in a decade. Despite rains in September and October, for much of last year, all of Colorado was experiencing drought conditions. Both November and December saw less precipitation than average, and warmer temperatures […]
Posted inColumns
Time to raise the white flag?
I’ve never let on to be all that smart. I was a poor performer in school and I never accumulated enough merit badges to go beyond the rank of First Class in the Boy Scouts. I’m cool with that because I never put much stock in intelligence quotients. Unless you have some kind of disability, […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters – July 10, 2025
Correction: Last week’s article about commercial space availability in Carbondale noted nearly 10,000 square feet vacant at Hayden Place. We were informed the northernmost portion has been leased to a local builder as a showroom and office. The remaining 6,755 square feet (or a smaller portion) can be rented by contacting Gabe Molnar at Gabe.Molnar@elliman.com […]
Posted inBusiness
With coffee prices on the rise, experts say climate change is to blame
Coffee prices have jumped in recent months, affecting businesses and customers worldwide. The increase comes from a deadly combination of poor climate conditions in major coffee-growing countries, higher labor and production costs and global economic conflict. Brazil produces more Arabica coffee beans than any other country in the world, but severe droughts have hurt the […]
Posted inLetters
Letters – May 20, 2025
Methane gas banYou’ll notice I use the term “methane gas” rather than the more familiar “natural gas.” That’s because “natural gas” is a misnomer. Out of its natural state, in the ground, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and anything but natural. It doesn’t belong on the surface. I went to the March 11 Carbondale […]
Posted inLetters
Letters
Protect public mediaMy wife and I are regular listeners to Carbondale’s KDNK Community Access Radio via streaming here in Lincoln, Nebraska. Streaming enables us to enjoy KDNK, your local community radio station that is a gift for us all.I spent my 45-year working career in commercial and public broadcast media.We recently received a disturbing email […]
Posted inEducation
Waterman chronicles arctic climate change in new book
Jon Waterman — National Geographic photographer, rugged adventurer, award-winning author — is publishing a new book, “Into the Thaw: Witnessing Wonder Amid the Arctic Climate Crisis,” a firsthand account of climate change in the Arctic Circle.Waterman had the first winter ascent of Mt. Denali’s Cassin Ridge in 1982; he’s kayaked North America’s Northwest Passage; boated […]
Posted inEducation
Wading into the Arctic from Carbondale
For Sarah Johnson of Wild Rose Education, an environmental education program based in Carbondale, switching between the microcosm of the Roaring Fork Valley and the global scope of climate science can be perplexing. “It’s kind of incredible,” Johnson told The Sopris Sun. “I sit here in my office in the Third Street Center and I’ll […]
Posted inEnvironment
Valley avian trends reflect warming climate
For many, if birds and climate change are mentioned in the same sentence, it conjures an image of the canary in the coal mine. These delicate, beautiful creatures are sensitive to ecosystem changes and respond to differences more quickly than we large, heavy bipeds do. These days, mining in the Roaring Fork Valley is minimal […]