Between 1982 and 2020, the duration of snow cover in mountainous regions around the world decreased by an average of about 15 days.reveals a new study by research team Eurac Research. This means that the snow cover on the world’s mountains has decreased by 4%.
The Alps are in line with the world average, with snow cover reduction of 10 to 20 days per year. published work, Scientific ReportsBy extending the observation time, it reinforced the results of previous research and also helped make a model used by NASA more accurate.
Two years ago, the first study of global snow cover found that 78% of mountain areas had reduced snowfall in the last 20 years. To reinforce these observations, Eurac Research He decided to expand the data collected from 1982 to a 38-year period.until 2020.
“Unfortunately, there are no denials for these trends, only confirmations”Physicist Claudia Notarnicola, deputy director of the Eurac Earth Observation Research Institute and author of the study, explains in a statement. “With a few exceptions, data on the extent and duration of snow cover show that they are clearly decreasing.”
especially, On average, the snow stays on the ground 15 days less, peaks 20 or even 30 days less in the western provinces of Canada. Coverage has decreased by 4% overall, which when multiplied by the coverage of areas affected by negative trends, presents an alarming dataset.
Few exceptions in an adverse scenario
The few numbers that contradict this general trend are not very encouraging. For example, in the early 1980s, the eruption of El Chichón volcano in Mexico caused a slight cooling that offset the reduction in snowfall, but this phenomenon did not last long.
“Overall, during this 38-year analysis, there have been some cases of increase in both coverage and snowy days. This is unique to parts of Central Asia and some valleys in the United States,” Notarnicola continues. “There is no agreed-upon explanation for these phenomena, but they may be other effects of climate change, such as changes in currents and winds, or certain microclimate conditions. In any case, these are some exceptions in a very negative global context”.
The study itself took a hybrid approach by combining MODIS satellite data from 2000 to 2020 into mathematical models with 500 meters resolution. “Basically, I chose a highly certified NASA global model and then developed it. In fact, at the time when model data and more accurate satellite imagery overlapped, I was able to better calibrate the model thanks to so-called ‘neural networks’. computing system,” explains Notarnicola.
Reference work: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-16743-w
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Source: Informacion
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