Pollution particles spur more mountain snow
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Category: ResearchType: News
Source: PNNL
Date: Friday, April 21st, 2017
News Brief
April 21, 2017 
RICHLAND, Wash. - High concentrations of tiny pollution particles near the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the western U.S. invigorate cloud formation and boost snowfall on the mountains, according to a new study by scientists at the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab and their collaborators at Colorado State University.
That happens because the particles lead to the creation of many more shallow clouds in the California Central Valley and foothills, changing local air circulation. Latent heat is given off when the cloud droplet forms, which strengthens the transport of moisture to the windward slope.
The newly discovered phenomenon by PNNL scientist Jiwen Fan and colleagues offers insights for other mountainous regions of the planet that are polluted, such as in China and India.
More details about the work, which was published recently in Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics, are accessible in this article.
Tags: Environment, Fundamental Science, Climate Science, Atmospheric Science, Aerosols
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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