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16 August 2018
Acceleration of mountain glacier melt could impact Pacific Northwest water supplies
Seasonal snow and ice accumulation cause glaciers in the Cascade Range mountains to grow a little every winter and melt a little every summer. This annual melt provides water for much of the Pacific Northwest, which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho and parts of Montana. Inhabitants of the region utilize this water for drinking, crop irrigation, generating hydroelectric power and other uses. Glacier melt provides supplementary water when less snowmelt is available, alleviating drought conditions or other impacts of dry periods.
24 January 2018
Dust on snow controls springtime river rise in West
A new study has found that dust, not spring warmth, controls the pace of spring snowmelt that feeds the headwaters of the Colorado River.
22 May 2014
Snow photos sought to illuminate snowmelt puzzle
In some places, where trees protect snow from sun and wind, it actually melts faster than in open areas. That’s what scientists concluded recently when they did a review of global data about snowmelt. Now, to gather much more data needed to deeply understand the discovery, and to make it useful for land and forest management, those same scientists are reaching out to an unlikely pool of collaborators: hikers, forest managers and other outdoors enthusiasts throughout the Pacific Northwest.