Blowin' in the Wind: More and More Sickening Dust

Snow on the high peaks of Colorado's Front Range show discoloration from deposition of dust . iPhone photograph shot from the window of an airplane. (Photo: © Tom Yulsman) At the end of a long journey back from Cambodia last week, I had my face glued to the window as the plane passed low over Colorado's Front Range on its way to a landing in Denver. The scenery is always spectacular, but I was also looking for something specific, and I found it: dust on snow. A lot of it. Check out the picture above and you'll see it: beige coloring on what would otherwise be bright white snowpack. This isn't just a curiosity. The relatively dark color of dust causes snowpack throughout the Western United States to absorb more solar energy than it otherwise would, and thus melt out earlier and faster, resulting in major headaches for water managers. ...