My name is McKenzie Skiles and I'm a snow hydrologist （水文学家） at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Actually, the purpose is to track dust's impact on water resources.
I am most interested in the impact of warming temperatures on snow melting rates, and I have started studying snowmelt since 2009 in Utah and Colorado. When I skied to research sites in Utah to collect snow for my experiment, the mountainous landscapes were covered in dust. It's clear that 2009 was one of the biggest years for dust deposition （沉积） onto snow.
I usually have to cover several kilometers, carrying a 27-kilogramme pack with a shovel （ 铲子） to dig a snow hole, tools to cut snow and measure its density, and containers to collect snow for analyses. One year, I hit a dusty area of snow, broke my ski and sliced my leg open.
In areas with heavy dust deposition, such as the southern Rocky Mountains, dust speeds up melting by one or two months. Warming air temperatures affect snow gathering, but dust builds up over time and darkens the surface.
I'm now exploring different ice and snow landscapes for further research. For example, how black-carbon buildup following forest fires affects melting. As we move into a future that is likely to be even dustier, we need them to predict snowmelt for many reasons, including working out how to use water in the western United States efficiently.
A. The dust caused a lot of trouble.
B. I went for miles in the wilderness.
C. Doing my research is no easy task.
D. One of the goals is to develop snowmelt models.
E. In Colorado, the red dust from desert soils had also blown in.
F. As a result, the snow will absorb more sunlight and quicken melting.
C. My job is to ski in the wilderness to measure dust on top of snow each spring.
