Alia Khan

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Algae blooms that cause pink snow could accelerate melting as Earth warms

“There never used to be any funding for this kind of work,” says Robin Kodner, a biologist at Western Washington University who’s at the forefront of a new push to understand what folks in the Pacific Northwest call “watermelon snow” — if…

2023-07-24
'Watermelon snow' piques curiosities in Utah after abnormally wet winter

The changes in the magnitude and timing of the melting — the exposure of bare ground earlier in the season — can cause problems in the Mountain West, affecting ecosystems and species that rely on cool water downstream and reservoirs designed to accommodate more gradual snowmelt. In places like…

2023-07-03
Algae Blooms Increase Snowmelt In The Pacific Northwest By 20%

Algae that commonly grow on snow in the Pacific Northwest have been ignored in melt models, but their presence significantly increases snowmelt compared with clean, white snow, according to a study conducted on Mount Baker in the North Cascades, Washington.

Scientist Alia Khan…

2023-06-21
WWU's Alia Khan takes her students to study snow and ice in Greenland - virtually 2023-04-12
Help ID snow algae

Desert Research Institute is seeking volunteers to look for snow algae as part of the Living Snow Project. The project, a partnership with Western Washington University, aims…

2022-04-07
WWU professor's quest to document melting in Earth's frozen lands

Mountains and snow have always beckoned biogeochemist Alia Khan. The Western Washington University assistant professor conducts research on the cryosphere, or Earth’s frozen environments. Her work has taken her to the Himalayas, the Chilean Andes, the Arctic and, most recently, Antarctica. …

2022-04-04
Soot is accelerating snow melt in popular parts of Antarctica, a study finds

Soot pollution is accelerating climate-driven melting in Antarctica, a new study suggests, raising questions about how to protect the delicate continent from the increasing number of humans who want to visit.

Researchers estimate that soot, or black carbon, pollution in the most popular…

2022-02-24
What is black carbon? The latest way humans are causing changes in Antarctica

here are few places on Earth that humans haven't mucked up with the waste and pollution that comes from our …

2022-02-23
WWU’s Alia Khan Receives $1.2 million CAREER Grant from the NSF to Continue Research in the Antarctic and the Cascades 2021-10-26
Red and green snow algae increase snowmelt in the Antarctic Peninsula

Red and green algae that grow on snow in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) cause significant extra snowmelt on par with melt from dust on snow in the Rocky Mountains, according to a first-of-its-kind scientific research study led by Alia Khan, affiliate research scientist at the National Snow and Ice…

2021-01-15
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