Aggies, Alaska and the atmosphere

Professors and students at Utah State University have been researching climate change and its effects. Graduate student Jeffrey Perala-Dewey studied the impacts of snowmelt on particle pollutants in the atmosphere in Alaska.  

“I study the fate and transport of certain environmental pollutants, specifically the ones that travel in the atmosphere,” Perala-Dewey said. 

Perala-Dewey is a Ph.D. student in the chemistry department. He became interested in environmental chemistry when he met Dr. Kimberly Hageman, a professor in the biochemistry department at USU who also participated in the research at Toolik Lake, Alaska.  

“The type of pollutants that we study in our research group are typically man-made,” Hageman said. “They’re chemicals that we produce and use. They don’t break down very easily, and that allows them to stick around for a long time.”  

When released into the atmosphere, the chemicals travel further north or south until they make it to the polar regions. 

“Things that aren’t used anywhere near the Arctic or the Antarctic ultimately end up there because of this effect of progressively traveling further and further from where they were used,” Perala-Dewey said. “That’s the premise of why we’re studying certain pollutants up in the Arctic.” 

The researchers looked at certain flame-retardant compounds that are added to furniture to decrease their flammability.  

“They have a wide variety of problems associated with them,” Perala-Dewey said. “They pose some level of toxicity to humans and wildlife.” 

Because of the significantly lower temperatures in the polar regions, the particle pollutants and chemicals end up frozen in the Arctic snowpack. 

“There are several classes of chemicals whose fate in the environment is dependent on the temperature,” Hageman said. “When it’s warm, they volatize, and when it’s cold, they condense.” 

The project had its first season in 2019. The research has yet to reach a conclusion.  

“Part of the purpose of this study was to see if, as the snow and ice melted, that it released some of these chemicals,” Hageman said. “We hypothesize that they accumulate all winter long and, in the spring, when everything melts very quickly, it releases them.” 

The team said they think global warming will play a large role in their findings, because of the unnaturally warmer temperatures in typically colder regions.  

“Changes in temperature will certainly have an effect,” Hageman said. “These contaminants accumulate in snowpack and ice, so if the snow and ice melt earlier, that’s going to have changes on their behavior.” 

Samantha Benovitz, a senior studying geology at USU, conducts research in the Hageman Lab and has helped Perala-Dewey process samples from Toolik Lake. 

A PAH, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, is a pollutant created when coal, wood, oil or gas is burnt.  

“Their research is giving insight into the transport, deposition, and behavior of PAHs and other pollutants,” Benovitz said in a virtual interview. “It will be beneficial to know how these pollutants interact with fragile ecosystems, like Toolik Lake in Alaska.” 

Along with his research in Alaska, Perala-Dewey has worked on several other studies, including one concerning the sediments in the Great Salt Lake and another that looked at how similar compounds move from urban areas into the alpine wilderness. 

Patrick Belmont, a professor in watershed sciences at USU, performs research on climate change. His areas of expertise include water quality and quantity, ecosystem health, environmental science and more.  

Belmont has studied the effects of wildfires on the climate. He also did research examining historical trends in snowpack and how more recent changes affect ski resorts in Utah. 

“There isn’t really much that we do in the College of Natural Resources that isn’t related to climate change at this point,” Belmont said. “It really is at the core of everything that we’re studying.” 

Belmont said that watershed sciences are important in understanding climate change because water resources are critical to the economy and recreation.  

“Here in Utah, we’re one of the driest states in the country,” Belmont said, “and we need to make sure that we’re using the little bit of water we have for the best uses.” 

The Department of Watershed Sciences at USU works to link the hydrologic system to other environmental concerns. 

“We have to be looking at these problems within the context of the whole system,” Belmont said. “I think looking at them as integrated parts of the same problem is a useful way to do it.” 

Belmont, Benovitz and other scientists at USU are concerned about the severity of Utah’s drought. 

“The hotter we let it get, the more severe and pervasive droughts there are,” Belmont said. “It’s just a question of how bad we want to let it get. It’s completely in our own control. The last couple of years have been the hottest years on record in Logan.” 

Benovitz said that seasons are increasingly unpredictable, and Utah has been experiencing summer heat waves, decreased snowfall and major droughts across the state.  

This increase in heat can be detrimental to wildlife that has not adapted to higher temperatures. 

“One of the common misconceptions that I see is that we’re going to solve all of this with just more science and engineering and that there’s going to be some silver bullet and it’ll all be okay,” Belmont said. “That’s gotten us really far down the road into this problem. Science and engineering are absolutely important, but I think we have all the science and engineering we need. We need to be implementing it.”  

According to Benovitz, individuals can make a difference in the climate change issue, no matter how large it may seem. 

“Thinking about how to reduce your overall carbon footprint and environmental impact doesn’t have to be complicated,” Benovitz said. “Just making a commitment to always bring reusable bags to the grocery store and reduce the number of single-use plastics you use can make a difference.” 

Belmont agreed that individuals can initiate change.                                                                              

“We need a bit of a shift in how we’re accounting for costs and benefits, and we need a shift in how people are thinking about their values,” Belmont said. 

According to Belmont, people should be concerned about how the environmental choices made right now will negatively affect future generations if the problem is not solved. 

“I have a 12-year-old daughter,” Belmont said. “And I think about the costs that are accumulating on her future. And that’s not fair.” 

Belmont quoted the 19th-century poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s proverb, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” 

Belmont is worried about the future, but he is also hopeful about the direction that the economy is headed in environmentally. 

“I sense a very strong, real, pervasive, profound shift,” Belmont said. “There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, but it makes me cautiously optimistic. We’re going to get this problem solved, I know it. It’s a matter of how bad we let it get before we really do get it solved.” 

— A02385315@usu.edu