Study: Dust is melting snow—and current models can’t keep up
In the drought-plagued western United States, mountain snowpack is a vital source of water. Spring melting replenishes downslope rivers as temperatures slowly rise. But as climate change makes such variables as precipitation and temperature less predictable, managing this vital source of water has become a challenge. Scientists have warned that current snowmelt models remain stuck in the past. … Dust, being darker than the underlying snow, absorbs more energy from the Sun and speeds up snowmelt. Fast-melting snow is a problem because mountain snowpack shelters soil from the heat of the Sun, [Researcher McKenzie] Skiles explained. When snow melts quickly, soil loses that protective blanket and dries out earlier in the season.
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