Forest fires accelerating snowmelt across Western U.S.
In the winter season after a forest fire, soot and burned debris fall from trees and settle on the snow’s surface, which causes it to absorb more energy from the sun than usual.
A team of researchers from DRI, Portland State, and the University of Nevada, Reno recently published findings showing that there’s been a four-fold increase in the amount of energy absorbed by snowpack across the West over the last 20 years due to forest fires.
The result? Earlier snowmelt, for as many as 15 years after a fire, which can profoundly impact the communities across the West that rely on mountain snowpack for water supplies.
