11.23 Snowpack

Climate News 11.2023

With the ski season coming up, many people in mountain towns are worried about how global warming will affect their snowpack. This month I looked into what mountains are doing to reduce snow loss and melting and stay open all winter long. I’m also going to look at some ways we are trapping carbon to reduce global warming.

Research shows that cleaner snow does not melt as fast as dirtier snow. When air pollution particles settle and make the snow dirty it will absorb more sunlight and melt faster. Clean snow reflects 80-90% of sunlight, as it is one of the brightest natural surfaces on Earth. Some ways to reduce air pollution are to cut fossil fuel emissions, to have strong public transportation services as well as keeping forests healthy and banning wood burning stoves (like they did in my hometown of Telluride in the 1980s). So, to protect winter snowpack we just need to reduce particulate matter air pollution, right? No, global warming also has a large effect on snowmelt on a yearly basis.

One significant driver of weather patterns that ties into global warming and snowpack is El Niño. El Niño is a climate pattern where heat radiates from warm water in the eastern Pacific Ocean causing hotter, drier weather in some areas and increased precipitation and flooding in others. El Niño has been supercharged by a warming climate causing weather chaos. So it’s clear that to stop melting snowpack we also need to limit global warming and carbon emissions.

To limit global warming to the UN's goals we will need to start trapping carbon from the atmosphere and permanently store it underground. One way people are doing this is bringing in air through giant fans and then directing it into a solvent that bonds with and traps the carbon. Currently, this method, called direct air capture, is expensive and its capacity is limited. Scientists are also working on a way to mineralize carbon mimicking the natural process by which basalt bonds with carbon in the atmosphere. Once the carbon is trapped, it can be repurposed for many things including fuel, and clothing.

Another innovative way to trap carbon is with three story tall carbon sucking imitation trees like they are experimenting with at Arizona State University. These fake trees are more efficient and, unlike real trees, do not release all their trapped CO2 at the end of their lifespans. To stop melting snow we need to use these methods and more to keep winter cold. Protect Our Winters (POW) is an organization that is working to keep winter cold. You can check out their work HERE.

There are many new and emerging technologies to limit global warming, but scientists say we can't do too much to slow the climate crisis. Now you may be thinking why do I care, I don’t ski (which I do) but, 2 billion people worldwide depend on snow for a steady source of water. Unlike rain, which instantly flows into reservoirs, snow gradually melts into water throughout the spring and summer, supplying people with water all year round.

There is still a lot we need to do to reduce global warming and preserve our snowpack. I believe that it is the responsibility of ski resorts, as large consumers of energy, to act with more urgency and protect the snowpack that so many people and animals depend on. Many people and organizations are coming out with innovative solutions but now we must implement them.