It’s on the sides of the glacier Presena, in Trentino-Alto Adige, in the Italian Alps, that this mysterious pink snow appeared. This event is reminiscent of the purple snow that surrounded a Ukrainian resort in Antarctic, last February. The cause would be the same: microscopic algae. This species of algae which gives a pink color to the snow would be harmless for humans but would have harmful consequences on the environment.
The hypothesis of a species of microscopic algae:
Scientists are currently investigating to determine the exact origin of this mysterious pink snow. The origin of algae is still very controversial. For now, research points to a species of freshwater and terrestrial algae: Ancylonema nordenskioeldii. Members of the National Research Center in Italy explain that this phenomenon occurs during “spring and summer in mid latitudes and in the poles”.
They insist thatthis is a natural phenomenon and that this alga is not dangerous for humans. But it is dangerous for the environment. It is also found in Greenland, especially where glaciers are melting. Indeed, snow reflects more than 80% of the sun’s rays in the atmosphere. Gold, these algae obscure the snow. Consequences: it absorbs more heat and therefore melts faster.
A vicious circle with dramatic consequences:
The more algae are present, the more the snow melts. And the more the snow melts, the more the algae swarm. It is a dangerous vicious circle since this phenomenon accelerates the melting of the ice. Algae proliferate as the snow melts quickly. It is for this reason that in the Gavia pass, which rises to 2,618 meters above sea level in the Italian Alps, the immaculate snow becomes more and more pink.
VIDEO – Alps: the mystery of the pink glacier https://t.co/89sgPP6aQk
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It is not the first time that algae have colored snow. Last February, in Antarctic, near a research station, the snow had turned purple. Snow samples had revealed the presence of an alga: Chlamydomonas nivalis chlamydomonas, also called “snow algae” or “glacier blood” and whose consequences were the same: an acceleration of the snowmelt.
A phenomenon very beautiful to see but not trivial. Indeed, over the course of a year, these algae could increase the melting of ice in the Arctic by 13%!
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