Himalayas: When Soot Gets in Your Ice

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=subcontinental-smut-himalayas
Is Soot the Culprit Behind Melting Himalayan Glaciers?


SAN FRANCISCO—The Himalaya Mountain region is warming up three to five times faster than the global trends—or about half a degree Celsius per decade—and many of its glaciers are rapidly losing mass. Greenhouse gases alone cannot explain this warming, however, and several new studies are pointing to an old form of pollution: soot....

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

In a bit of serendipity, I just came across this article:
http://www.physorg.com/news100354399.html

Note: Decreasing the albedo of snow-covered surfaces by sprinkling soot, ash, or cinders on them to hasten melting is a time-honored technique for clearing roads, especially in rural areas. I seem to recall seeing reference to its use along the Tioga Road, possibly in the avalanche zones, sometime during the past five years.


[Aside to Frank: cute subject heading.]