Alaskan Snow More Than Doubles Due To Global Warming: Study

Snowfall in central Alaska has more than doubled since the mid 1800s, said a study Tuesday which pointed the finger at global warming

Paris,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Dec, 2017 ) :Snowfall in central Alaska has more than doubled since the mid 1800s, said a study Tuesday which pointed the finger at global warming.

Two ice cores drilled into Mount Hunter in the Denali National Park, revealed a 117-percent increase in wintertime snowfall in south-central Alaska since about 1840, researchers wrote in the journal Scientific Reports.

Summer snow also increased, by nearly 50 percent. "We were shocked when we first saw how much snowfall has increased," said Erich Osterberg of Darmouth College, who co-authored the study. "We had to check and double-check our results to make sure of the findings." Next, the team set out to find out why.

Scientific models predict that global precipitation -- rain or snow -- would increase by as much as two percent per degree of global warming. Warmer air holds more moisture.