By Maximus Esquibel, Chemical Engineering Major, Mentor Marcy Litvak.
New Mexico communities are experiencing hotter days, climate uncertainty, damaged ecosystems, and an empty Rio Grande River. Many residents worry about the future of the state. Meanwhile, unquantified carbon, energy, and water are leading to uninformed decision making. Semi-Arid regions make up most of the state and 40% of the Earth’s surface, but also represent a large gap in climate efforts. These regions are often overlooked for their importance, and this project aims to fill that gap by quantifying carbon, water, and energy fluxes across New Mexico’s ecological gradients to better inform land management and climate policy. Research using eddy covariance flux towers, which are micrometeorological instruments, has been collecting data for the last 20 years. The methods are noninvasive, using air circulation to measure changes in carbon, humidity, rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, and soil temperature. This research is done through a combination of many instruments on the towers and has been greatly beneficial for initial land management planning and providing accurate, useful information. More data and eventual action must come soon, though, to ensure a sustainable future for all New Mexicans. Addressing these gaps requires two critical next steps: greater investment in Semi-Arid climate research and legislation mandating comprehensive land management strategies.