Billy Barr | |
---|---|
Born | Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. |
Education | Rutgers University |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Climatology |
Institutions | Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory |
Website | www |
Billy Barr, stylized as billy barr, [2] is an American amateur scientist known for his collection of over 50 years of data on snow levels, temperatures and animal migration in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Barr's data collection is recognized as critical evidence of the effects of climate change. [3] [4]
Barr grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. [5] In 1972, as a student researcher from Rutgers University, he took a short-term job [4] at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory measuring water quality near Crested Butte in the West Elk Mountains, Colorado. [3] [6] [7] After some time, he featured in a local newspaper as an eccentric mountain hermit. [3] [8]
In the mid 1970s, with the initial intention of escaping the boredom of living in the remote location of Gothic Mountain, [3] Barr began meticulously collecting environmental data by measuring the snow depth, temperatures and noting the arrival of different species in the spring. [9] [4] Around the same time, he became "an unofficial caretaker" of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. [10] In late 1990s, the lab's resident ecologist David Inouye recognized the significance of Barr's data and began sharing it with other scientists. Since then, Barr's records have been used in numerous scientific articles on climate change. [11] [12] [13]
The 2016 documentary film The Snow Guardian is dedicated to Barr. [10] [14]
Colorado is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is the eighth most extensive and 21st most populous U.S. state. The United States Census Bureau estimated the population of Colorado at 5,839,926 as of July 1, 2022, a 1.15% increase since the 2020 United States census.
Boulder is a home rule city and the county seat of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in Boulder County, with a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th-most populous city in Colorado. Boulder is the principal city of the Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Front Range Urban Corridor.
The Town of Grand Lake is a statutory town located in Grand County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 410 at the 2020 United States Census.
Crested Butte is a home rule municipality located in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,639 at the 2020 United States Census. The former coal mining town is now called "the last great Colorado ski town". Crested Butte is a destination for skiing, mountain biking, and outdoor activities.
Gunnison is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gunnison County, Colorado. The city population was 6,560 at the 2020 United States Census. The city was named in honor of John W. Gunnison, a United States Army officer who surveyed for a transcontinental railroad in 1853.
The Nimbus satellites were second-generation U.S. robotic spacecraft launched between 1964 and 1978 used for meteorological research and development. The spacecraft were designed to serve as stabilized, Earth-oriented platforms for the testing of advanced systems to sense and collect atmospheric science data. Seven Nimbus spacecraft have been launched into near-polar, Sun-synchronous orbits beginning with Nimbus 1 on August 28, 1964. On board the Nimbus satellites are various instrumentation for imaging, sounding, and other studies in different spectral regions. The Nimbus satellites were launched aboard Thor-Agena rockets and Delta rockets.
The Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center (BPCRC) is a polar, alpine, and climate research center at The Ohio State University founded in 1960.
Schofield Pass, elevation 10,707 ft (3,263 m), is a mountain pass in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. The pass is the high point on Gothic Road, which connects the towns of Marble and Crested Butte. The pass is closed for most of the year due to snow or mud, and is open only for one or two months in late summer.
Crystal is a ghost town on the upper Crystal River in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. It is located in the Elk Mountains along a four-wheel-drive road 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Marble and 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Crested Butte. Crystal was a mining camp established in 1881 and after several decades of robust existence, was all but abandoned by 1917. The Crystal post office operated from July 28, 1882, until October 31, 1909.Many buildings still stand in Crystal, but its few residents live there only in the summer.
The geography of the U.S. State of Colorado is diverse, encompassing both rugged mountainous terrain, vast plains, desert lands, desert canyons, and mesas. Colorado is a landlocked U.S. state. In 1861, the United States Congress defined the boundaries of the new Territory of Colorado exclusively by lines of latitude and longitude, stretching from 37°N to 41°N latitude, and from 102°02'48"W to 109°02'48"W longitude. Starting in 1868, official surveys demarcated the boundaries, deviating from the parallels and meridians in several places. Later surveys attempted to correct some of these mistakes but in 1925 the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the earlier demarcation was the official boundary. The borders of Colorado are now officially defined by 697 boundary markers connected by straight boundary lines. Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah are the only states that have their borders defined solely by straight boundary lines with no natural features. The southwest corner of Colorado is the Four Corners Monument at 36°59'56"N, 109°2'43"W. This is the only place in the United States where four states meet: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.
National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a large facility program operated by Battelle Memorial Institute and funded by the National Science Foundation. In full operation since 2019, NEON gathers and provides long-term, standardized data on ecological responses of the biosphere to changes in land use and climate, and on feedback with the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. NEON is a continental-scale research platform for understanding how and why our ecosystems are changing.
The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory is a high-altitude biological field station located near Crested Butte, in the abandoned mining town of Gothic, Colorado in the West Elk Mountains. The laboratory was founded in 1928. Research areas include the ecology of the region, climate change, pollination biology, and a long-running study of the yellow-bellied marmot. The laboratory offers courses for undergraduate students, including National Science Foundation-funded REU students, and provides support for researchers from universities and colleges.
Crested Butte is a prominent mountain summit in the Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,168-foot (3,709 m) peak is in Gunnison National Forest, 2.1 miles (3.4 km) northeast by east of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. Ski lifts and runs of the Crested Butte Mountain Resort occupy the north side of the mountain.
Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The ultra-prominent 14,115-foot (4,302.31 m) fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, 12 miles (19 km) west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The town of Manitou Springs lies at its base.
Climate change in Colorado encompasses the effects of climate change, attributed to man-made increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, in the U.S. state of Colorado.
Jeff Dozier is an American snow hydrologist, environmental scientist, researcher and academic. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Founding Dean of the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Heidi Steltzer is a German-born American scientist of arctic and alpine ecology and professor at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado teaching Biology and Environment and Sustainability. Steltzer is known for her work on snow melt and how it affects ecosystems in the surrounding areas.
Aimée Classen is an American ecologist who studies the impact of global changes on a diverse array of terrestrial ecosystems. Her work is notable for its span across ecological scales and concepts, and the diversity of terrestrial ecosystems that it encompasses, including forests, meadows, bogs, and tropics in temperate and boreal climates.
Jacob Sebastian Haugaard Mernild is a Danish professor in climate change, glaciology and hydrology, who is the pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Southern Denmark. Mernild has been an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) author for the United Nations since 2010. Initially a contributing author on the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, he was lead author on the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.