PNNL: Cleaner Snow Boosts Future Snowpack Predictions [View all]

[OKIsItJustMe]

October 12, 2023 | News Release
Cleaner Snow Boosts Future Snowpack Predictions

Less pollution means a cleaner, less diminished snowpack

Tom Rickey, PNNL

RICHLAND, Wash.—Less pollution settling into snow should help cut the decline of snowpack in the Northern Hemisphere later this century. Though the snowpack will still diminish due to rising temperatures, the outlook is less dire when the cleaner snow of the future is considered.

In some scenarios, the researchers predict that the reduction in snowpack will be less than half what has been predicted—good news for the many people who rely on subsequent snowmelt in high mountains for water and food production, as well as for those who depend on winter recreation.

The findings come from scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who weighed several factors that affect snowpack. These include warming temperatures, pollution, dust and even the shape of snow grains as they pack together on the ground.

The findings were published October 2 in Nature Communications.

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