Dust in West speeding up snow melting - Yahoo! News

Dust in West speeding up snow melting - Yahoo! News

Ranching, mining, energy exploration and other activities that raise dust in the West are helping diminish the snowpack that supplies much of the region's water, a new study says.

Colorado scientists reported Tuesday that dust is blowing from the deserts onto the state's snowcapped mountains, absorbing more of the sun's warmth because of its darker color and melting the snow earlier and more quickly than in the past. That results in less water late in the summer for farmers relying on stream flows and for cities and towns.