Algae Blooms Increase Snowmelt In The Pacific Northwest By 20%
Algae that commonly grow on snow in the Pacific Northwest have been ignored in melt models, but their presence significantly increases snowmelt compared with clean, white snow, according to a study conducted on Mount Baker in the North Cascades, Washington.
Scientist Alia Khan at Western Washington University and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the , is the senior author of the study. Clean snow reflects as much as 99% of incoming solar radiation, helping to protect Earth's atmosphere from warming.
Algae, usually a red color, often bloom on snow in the summer months in the Pacific Northwest. They cause the albedo, or reflectivity, of the snow to decrease by about 20%. That energy is absorbed rather than reflected to space because of the algae's darker color. Results of the -supported study were published in