Editing Southwestern United States (section)

==Climate==
[[File:Sonoradesert 1.JPG|thumb|[[Sonoran Desert]] terrain near [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]]]]
The southwestern United States features a semi-arid to arid climate, depending on the location.<ref name="BATTG19">{{Cite journal|last=Battaglia|first=Steven M.|date=November 1, 2019|title=No Fairy Tale Ending: The Future of Water and the American Southwest|journal=[[Weatherwise]]|volume=72|issue=6|pages=36–43|doi=10.1080/00431672.2019.1659034|bibcode=2019Weawi..72f..36B |s2cid=214466152|issn=0043-1672}}</ref> Much of the Southwest is an arid desert climate, but higher elevations in the mountains in each state, with the exception of West Texas, feature alpine climates with very large amounts of snow. The metropolitan areas of Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and El Paso hardly ever receive any snow at all, as they are strictly desert lands with mountains.<ref name="BATTG19" /> Albuquerque receives less snow than other cities, but still receives significant snowfalls occasionally in the winter. Although it snows in this region, the snow in this part of the United States melts rapidly, often before nightfall. This is due mainly to the higher altitude and abundant sunshine in these states.

Nevada and Arizona are both generally arid with desert lands and mountains, and receive large amounts of snow in the higher elevations in and near the mountains. New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado are generally arid, with desert lands and mountains as well. They all receive decent amounts of snow and large amounts of snow in the high elevations in the mountains, although some areas in far southwestern and southern New Mexico do not receive much snow at all at lower elevations. West Texas is generally arid as well but does not receive the same amount of snow that the other southwestern states receive at their high elevations. The terrain of western Texas in the Southwest is the flat, rolling land of the plains, which eventually turns into a desert with some hills. There are significant mountains as well in west Texas upon reaching the [[Trans-Pecos]] area.

[[File:Carlsbad caverns entrance.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chihuahuan Desert]] terrain near [[Carlsbad, New Mexico|Carlsbad]]]] The term "High Desert" is also synonymous with this region. The High Desert is generally defined as the [[Mojave Desert]] and the [[Colorado Plateau]],<ref name="PBS">{{cite web |title=Canyonlands |url=https://www.pbs.org/edens/canyonlands/exquisite.htm |publisher=Public Broadcasting Company |access-date=March 3, 2021}}</ref> which extends from inland southern California into southern Nevada, east to the [[Rio Grande Rift]] in New Mexico. The High Desert also extends into parts of the [[Northwestern United States|Northwest]], such as the [[Red Desert (Wyoming)|Red Desert]] in southwestern Wyoming. The High Desert is very different from the lower desert lands found in Arizona, in the [[Sonoran Desert]]. This area of the desert land generally sits at a very high elevation, much higher than the normal desert land, and can receive very cold temperatures at night in the winter (with the exception of California, southern Nevada and southwestern Utah), sometimes near zero degrees on very cold nights. The High Desert also receives a decent amount of snowfall in the winter (with the exception of California, southern Nevada and southwestern Utah) but melts very quickly. Rain falls in this region mainly in the summer, during the [[North American Monsoon]] season.

[[File:CONM Independence monument 2.jpg|thumb|Monument Canyon, some of the high desert lands found in Colorado]]

The desert lands found in Eastern Utah, Northern Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico are usually referred to as the high desert. Colorado has scattered desert lands found in southern, southwestern, western, and northwestern parts of the state. These scattered desert lands are located in and around areas such as, the [[Roan Plateau]], [[Dinosaur National Monument]], [[Colorado National Monument]], [[Royal Gorge]], [[Cortez, Colorado|Cortez]], [[Dove Creek, Colorado|Dove Creek]], [[Canyons of the Ancients National Monument]], [[Four Corners Monument]], [[Montrose, Colorado|Montrose]], [[Blue Mesa Reservoir]], [[Pueblo, Colorado|Pueblo]], [[San Luis Valley]], [[Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve|Great Sand Dunes]] and [[Joshua Tree National Park]]. Besides the [[Chihuahuan Desert]], lands in southwestern and southern New Mexico, they also have scattered desert lands in the northwestern and northern portions of their state, which is referred to as the high desert.

During [[El Niño]], winters and springs are generally colder and wetter across southern portions of the region, while the northern portion stays warmer and drier due to a southern jet stream. Under [[La Niña]], the opposite happens, meaning the cool and wet weather tends to stay farther north.<ref name="BATTG19" /> The Southwest also experiences multi-year and multi-decade episodes of severe drought, including the ongoing [[southwestern North American megadrought]] which emerged starting year 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-climate-driven-megadrought-emerging-western.html |title=Climate-driven megadrought is emerging in western US, study says |first=Kevin |last=Krajick |publisher=phys.org |date=April 16, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author=Williams, A. Park |display-authors=etal |title=Large contribution from anthropogenic warming to an emerging North American megadrought |journal=Science |volume=368 |issue=6488 |pages=314–318 |doi=10.1126/science.aaz9600 |date=April 17, 2020|pmid=32299953 |bibcode=2020Sci...368..314W |s2cid=215789824 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8127q52g }}</ref>