Snow cover on the Sierra Nevada mountain range (down centre), California, USA, on 18th January 2014. California is to the left of the mountain range,

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Snow cover on the Sierra Nevada mountain range (down centre), California, USA, on 18th January 2014. California is to the left of the mountain range, Nevada is to the right. At top left are the Cascade Mountains, with the Coast Range below them. Three years into a severe drought, there is very little snow on the mountains and the valley to the left of the Sierra Nevada, which would usually be green with growing crops, is brown and dry. Around one third of California's water supply comes from snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The lack of snow has led to the governor of California declaring a state of emergency. Image obtained by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. For an image of the same area in January 2013 see C019/5193.

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Size: 5009px × 3600px
Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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