The melting mountains across the world are popularly established as indicators of rising global warming and predictable effects of climate change. But, the story does not get so well on these lines when talk about Colorado Mountains’ melt-down.
This is an unpredictable consequence of the Southwest struck with drought. True, it is not easy to link parched deserts hundreds of miles away with ice-melting at the mountain heights of Colorado, but it can be carried well by the wind – the dust.
According to a new study, the dust from the drought-stricken Southwest — Arizona and New Mexico — is blown by wind, which eventually ‘erodes’ away the ice from the heights. This is well seen by a considerable melting of snows in areas of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains above and below the tree line last year.
The dust can well do the job of melting as is less reflective, compared to snow, which can eventually reduce the area’s overall reflectivity. This in turn, allows for more of the sun’s energy to warm and subsequently melt the snow packs.
Surprised by the prevailing phenomenon, study team leader Tom Painter of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center said,
The connection between dust and lower snow reflectance is already established, but the amount of impact measured and modeled in this system stunned us. The fact that dust can reduce the snow cover duration so much-a month earlier-transforms our understanding of mountain sensitivity to external forcings.
To add to this helpless natural devastation, recent studies claim that the Southwest will grow warmer and drier with global warming, which means ‘enhanced dust deposition’ thus, speeding up shortening of snow cover duration.
The consequences go without saying that it will be followed by drinking water and food crisis for one-sixth of the world’s population, being an important life-blood for agriculture in the western United States.