Editing Snow (section)

===Agriculture===
[[File:Indus.A2002274.0610.1km.jpg|thumb|Satellite view of the [[Indus River Basin]], showing snow in the mountain ranges—including the Himalayas—which feed the Indus river and its tributaries, and agricultural areas in eastern [[Pakistan]] and northwestern [[India]] that draw on them for irrigation.]]
Snowfall can be beneficial to agriculture by serving as a [[thermal insulation|thermal insulator]], conserving the heat of the Earth and protecting [[agriculture|crops]] from subfreezing weather. Some agricultural areas depend on an accumulation of snow during winter that will melt gradually in spring, providing water for crop growth, both directly and via runoff through streams and rivers, which supply irrigation canals.<ref name = Snowenclyclopedia/> The following are examples of rivers that rely on meltwater from glaciers or seasonal snowpack as an important part of their flow on which irrigation depends: the [[Ganges]], many of whose tributaries rise in the [[Himalayas]] and which provide much irrigation in northeast [[India]],<ref>{{cite book
 |first1      = C. R.
 |last1       = Krishna Murti
 |others      = Gaṅgā Pariyojanā Nideśālaya; India Environment Research Committee
 |title       = The Ganga, a scientific study
 |date        = 1991
 |publisher   = Northern Book Centre
 |isbn        = 978-8172110215
 |df          = mdy-all
|oclc       = 853267663
 }}</ref> the [[Indus River]], which rises in [[Tibet]]<ref>[[Alice Albinia|Albinia, Alice]]. (2008) ''Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River''. First American Edition (20101) W. W. Norton & Company, New York. {{ISBN|978-0-393-33860-7}}.</ref> and provides irrigation water to [[Pakistan]] from rapidly retreating Tibetan glaciers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1eE4Xw3njaW1MKpJRYOch4hOdLQ |title=Global warming benefits to Tibet: Chinese official. Reported 18 August 2009 |date=August 17, 2009 |access-date=December 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123192540/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1eE4Xw3njaW1MKpJRYOch4hOdLQ |archive-date=January 23, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and the [[Colorado River]], which receives much of its water from seasonal snowpack in the [[Rocky Mountains]]<ref name="USGSrivers">{{cite web|url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1987/ofr87-242/|author=Kammerer, J.C.|title=Largest Rivers in the United States|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|date=May 1990|access-date=July 2, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129040848/https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1987/ofr87-242/|archive-date=January 29, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> and provides irrigation water to some {{convert|4|e6acre|e6ha|abbr=off}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/newsrelease/detail.cfm?RecordID=38043|title=Salazar Awards $20.1 Million to Four Western Colorado Irrigation Districts to Improve Irrigation Systems, Reduce Salinity in Colorado River|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Reclamation|date=October 21, 2011|access-date=March 17, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030103029/http://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/newsrelease/detail.cfm?RecordID=38043|archive-date=October 30, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref>