EH Alumni Ayja Bounous Decries the Decline in Snow Pack

Salt Lake City inhabitant have no doubt noticed the unusually high temperatures and odd lack of snowfall. In a recent piece in the Salt Lake Tribune, “Commentary: How would we deal with the extinction of snow?” Ayja Bounous, EH '17 graduate , speaks out about the danger of snow extinction in the Wasatch. Ayja points to the familiar, a snowy mountain peak looming over Salt Lake in the winter, and turns this seemingly guaranteed phenomenon into a warning about the potential consequences of this warm winter season.

Snow, Ayja argues, is a “keystone species of the American West.” The valley relies on snow for ecosystem health, agricultural production and drinking water year-round. Without snowpack, streams would run dry in the summer. In her piece, Ayja relates snow to the beautiful Trumpeter Swans and asks if this trickle of snowfall would be acceptable as a loss of migration of the treasured birds.

Ayja raises questions about our reliance on and perception of snow and beautifully paints a narrative that easily allows readers to grasp and internalize her words as she brings environmental issues close to home. She writes that “the future of the swans, of the snow, is uncertain and concerning. The snowpack is changing rapidly. It’s a cause for alarm to all living near the Wasatch, whether you ski or not.”