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DENVER (AP) - Ranching, mining, energy exploration and other activities that raise dust in the West are helping diminish the snowpack that supplies much of the region's water, a new study says.
Colorado scientists reported Tuesday that dust is blowing from the deserts onto the state's snowcapped mountains, absorbing more of the sun's warmth because of its darker color and melting the snow earlier and more quickly than in the past. That results in less water late in the summer for farmers relying on stream flows and for cities and towns.
"The snowpack 150 years ago was probably much cleaner, and by being cleaner, it lasted longer, potentially weeks longer," said Tom Painter, a researcher with the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
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