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Dust on Snow

June 12, 2013--Colorado scientists quantify increased dust pollution (Summit Voice)

Significant dust storms the past few years have had a big impact on the timing of snowmelt in the Colorado Rockies, but scientists haven’t been able to say for certain if those events are becoming more frequent.


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April 19, 2013--Good news of deep snow in Colorado foiled by dust that will speed melt (Denver Post)

The blessed snow that blanketed the high country and bolstered emaciated snowpacks this week was swirling with dirty trouble.


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March 10, 2013--Climate change and the local snowpack (Telluride Daily Planet)

The complexities of climate change and its effects on the San Juan Mountains are not well known, but research is being done to dig up some answers.


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December 9, 2012--Scientists see big changes in winter weather patterns (Summit Voice)

Winter finally arrived in the Colorado high country, but not until the second week of December, after a November that saw average temps run an eye-popping 7 degrees above average.While the timing is a little unusual, it’s not unprecedented, and after two years in a row of lackluster early season snowfall, many people want to know if global warming is a factor in the changes.


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March 2, 2012--Our rapidly shrinking water supply (Telluride Watch)

The Colorado River Basin is losing water at an ever-accelerating rate, and snow scientist Chris Landry wants people to know about it.

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October 31, 2011--Study shows Navajo Nation sand dunes on the move (Denver Post)

A decade-long federal study says that a drier climate on the Navajo Nation​ is causing sand dunes to grow and move, potentially threatening grazing, roads and buildings. The study by a U.S.

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May 31,2011--Dust takes less role in Colorado runoff (Denver Post)

Here it comes. After a nearly glacier-building May, the deepest snowpack in recent memory is about to let loose.


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Dust to Get Worse

Desert dust blowing from the Southwest into the Rockies has been implicated in everything from earlier snowmelt and air quality violations to causing avalanches. A new study indicates these storms will become more frequent and intense as increased temperature kill desert vegetation. A research team from the U.S. Geological Survey and UCLA looked at climate, vegetation, and soil measurements collected over a 20-year period in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in southeastern Utah. Long-term data indicated that perennial vegetation in grasslands and some shrublands declined with temperature increases. The study then used these soil and vegetation measurements in a model to project future wind erosion.


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February 27, 2011--Desert dust storms to get worse (Summit Voice)

Desert dust blowing from the Southwest into the Rockies has been implicated in everything from earlier snowmelt and air quality violations to causing avalanches. A new study shows  the storms more frequent and intense as global warming kills desert vegetation. A research team from the U.S.


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January 10, 2011--Earth is twice as dusty as in 19th century, research shows (Science Daily)

The amount of dust in the Earth's atmosphere has doubled over the last century, according