There’s a Secret World Under the Snow, and It’s in Trouble

“Snow is very important,” [Hubbard Brook researcher Peter] Groffman says. “It insulates and protects the forest soil. And when you lose that insulation, the soil becomes much more susceptible to freezing. … If you lose that blanket of snow, you end up with what we call colder soils in a warmer world.”

Read more in the January 2016 Smithsonian Magazine article.