China News Service, July 6th, according to the European Union quoted the European Union News Agency, the mysterious appearance of pink ice and snow suddenly appeared in the Italian Alps glacier recently, which has aroused great concern from the scientific community. Experts in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Milan, Bicocca, Italy have found that the pink snow and ice observed in parts of the glacier are likely caused by algae found on Greenland.
According to reports, the Plesena Glacier in Pelizzano, the autonomous province of Trento, Italy, recently showed a pink ice and snow. Biagio Di Mauro, a member of the Italian National Research Council and a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Milan Bicocca, believes that part of the pink ice and snow on the Plesena Glacier may be related to the algae found in Greenland.
Di Mauro said that this algae plant is not dangerous and is a natural phenomenon that occurs during spring and summer. It is found in mid-latitude regions and Poland. Previously, he had also studied algae in the Motlac Glacier in Switzerland.
Di Mauro said that this plant is called ice algae and mainly exists in Greenland's so-called dark areas and areas where ice is melting. The emergence of this algae will affect climate change to some extent. Usually ice cubes will reflect more than 80% of the solar radiation back to the atmosphere, and once algae emerge, it will make the color of ice and snow darker, making the ice and snow more endothermic and melting faster. The more surface algae melts, the faster it will melt.
Di Mauro pointed out that the darkening of ice and snow will lead to accelerated melting and accelerated radiation absorption. The research team is trying to quantify the impact of human behavior and other phenomena on the overheating of the earth. The existence of mountaineering and ski lifts is also an important factor affecting algae. (Weng Wuping)