Scientists are investigating the mysterious pink color of a glacier in the Italian Alps, a color probably caused by algae that would accelerate the effects of climate change.
The origin of the algae is controversial, but the pink color of the snow, observed on sections of the Presena glacier, is probably caused by the same plant discovered in Greenland, according to the member of the National Research Center Biagio Di Mauro.
Snow melts faster
"The alga is not dangerous, it is a natural phenomenon which occurs during spring and summer in the middle latitudes but also at the poles", explained the scientist, who studies the phenomenon.
Algae, of the species Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, are also present in Greenland, in an area where the ice melts.
Ice normally reflects more than 80% of the sun's radiation into the atmosphere. But the algae obscures the snow, which absorbs more heat and melts faster.
More and more algae appear as the snow melts quickly, which gives a red tint to the white ice of the Gavia pass, at 2,618 meters above sea level.
"We are trying to quantify the effects of phenomena other than that caused by humans on the overheating of the Earth," continued Biagio Di Mauro, adding that hikers and ski lifts could also have effects on algae.
- Algae
- Snow
- Italy
- Alps
- Climate change
- Planet