Scientist: dust shortening western winters

BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- A Utah researcher said that dust kicked up by urban and agricultural development is shortening western winters, media reported Wednesday.

Dust deposition dulls the snow's albedo by making the grains of snow bigger, which limits the absorption of heat by snowpacks, said the researcher Thomas Painter, head of the University of Utah's Snow Optics Laboratory.

Painter said that the snow in the Colorado Plateau has been mixed with dust that was emitted because of the unfettered stock grazing. As a result, today's snowpacks melt about a month earlier than they once did.

When the snow cover dissipates earlier than it should, the ground is exposed at a time when the sun is highest in the sky. This can hurt the local ecology.

"That has some impact on regional climate," Painter said. "We're seeing a 1.5 degree Centigrade temperature increase."

Painter added that dust-related impacts to snow albedo are a global problem. Painter is now studying the Wasatch Range where the snowpack is under serious assault from dust and soot. Wasatch canyons provide most of Salt Lake City's water and are economically significant for winter recreation.

"If it's possible to clean up the snowpack, we can buy significant time to increase snowpack duration," he said. "We have enormous amounts of research to do. I look forward to doing it over the next decade."

(Agencies)