Black carbon in the Southern Andean snowpack

verfasst von

Raúl R. Cordero, Edgardo Sepúlveda, Sarah Feron, Chenghao Wang, Alessandro Damiani, Francisco Fernandoy, Steven Neshyba, Penny M. Rowe, Valentina Asencio, Jorge Carrasco, Juan A. Alfonso, Shelley MacDonell, Gunther Seckmeyer, Juan M. Carrera, Jose Jorquera, Pedro Llanillo, Jacob Dana, Alia L. Khan, Gino Casassa

Abstract

The Andean snowpack is an important source of water for many communities. As other snow-covered regions around the world, the Andes are sensitive to black carbon (BC) deposition from fossil fuel and biomass combustion. BC darkens the snow surface, reduces the albedo, and accelerates melting. Here, we report on measurements of the BC content conducted by using the meltwater filtration (MF) technique in snow samples collected across a transect of more than 2500 km from the mid-latitude Andes to the southern tip of South America. Addressing some of the key knowledge gaps regarding the effects of the BC deposition on the Andean snow, we identified BC-impacted areas, assessed the BC-related albedo reduction, and estimated the resulting snow losses. We found that BC concentrations in our samples generally ranged from 2 to 15 ng g-1, except for the nearly BC-free Patagonian Icefields and for the BC-impacted sites nearby Santiago (a metropolis of 6 million inhabitants). We estimate that the seasonal snowpack shrinking attributable to the BC deposition ranges from 4 mm water equivalent (w.e.) at relatively clean sites in Patagonia to 241 mm w.e. at heavily impacted sites close to Santiago.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Meteorologie und Klimatologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Universidad de Santiago de Chile
Reichsuniversität Groningen
Stanford University
Chiba University
Universidad Andres Bello
University of Puget Sound
NorthWest Research Associates, Inc.
Select Carbon Pty Ltd
UNIVERSIDAD DE MAGALLANES
Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas
Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA)
Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI) Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Western Washington University
University of Colorado Boulder

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Environmental research letters

Band

17

Anzahl der Seiten

10

ISSN

1748-9318

Publikationsdatum

03.2022

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Erneuerbare Energien, Nachhaltigkeit und Umwelt, Umweltwissenschaften (insg.), Öffentliche Gesundheit, Umwelt- und Arbeitsmedizin

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 3 – Gute Gesundheit und Wohlergehen, SDG 7 – Erschwingliche und saubere Energie

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac5df0 (Zugang: Offen)