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Water and life from snow: A trillion dollar science question
Author(s) -
Sturm Matthew,
Goldstein Michael A.,
Parr Charles
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1002/2017wr020840
Subject(s) - snow , thriving , liberian dollar , recreation , snow cover , environmental science , climate change , natural resource economics , environmental resource management , business , finance , economics , meteorology , geography , geology , political science , social science , oceanography , sociology , law
Snow provides essential resources/services in the form of water for human use, and climate regulation in the form of enhanced cooling of the Earth. In addition, it supports a thriving winter outdoor recreation industry. To date, the financial evaluation of the importance of snow is incomplete and hence the need for accelerated snow research is not as clear as it could be. With snow cover changing worldwide in several worrisome ways, there is pressing need to determine global, regional, and local rates of snow cover change, and to link these to financial analyses that allow for rational decision making, as risks related to those decisions involve trillions of dollars.