Pink snow may be beautiful to look at but unfortunately it represents a new threat to the environment, especially from the point of view of climate change. The color of the snow is due to an alga whose presence causes a rapid melting of the snowpack.
La pink snow it may seem beautiful to look at, but unfortunately it represents a new threat to the environment especially from the point of view of climate change. The coloring of the snow is due to an alga whose presence causes one rapid melting of the snowpack.
I changeclimatic conditions allow the alga to proliferate but its presence has risky implications for glaciers which are already in danger due to the global increase in temperatures on our planet.
In a study published this week in Nature, a group of scientists from Germany and the United Kingdom have referred to the phenomenon of pink snow as bio-albedo. Albedo is the effect created when snow-white surfaces and glaciers reflect light.
The presence ofAlga Rossa gives the snow a lower albedo e makes it melt faster. Algae need water to develop and for this reason the melting of snow and glaciers favors their presence. The more the snow and the glaciers melt, according to experts, the more the presence of the alga increases in a chain effect that could have a negative impact on the climate that should not be underestimated.
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Photo source: Artflakes
Fonte photo: Archive
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According to experts' data, the presence of algae reduces the albedo of snow by 13% during the season of its melting. Apparently the phenomenon is occurring all over the world, from the Arctic to Antarctica. The presence of red algae in snow has also been detected in Greenland, Iceland and the Alps in Europe.
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Now the researchers will take into account the phenomenon of pink snow for the study of future models of climate change since an increase in temperatures will lead to a greater presence of algae and therefore an even faster melting of snow and glaciers.
Marta Albè
Photo font: Flickr