Pink snow on Italian Alps could have a lasting impact
By
Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Jul 10, 2020 10:56 PM EDT
Scientists in Italy are investigating the appearance of pink glacial ice in the Alps, suspected to be caused by algae compounding the effects of climate change.
Scientists in Italy are now investigating pink snow on Presena Glacier in the Alps and how it could potentially accelerate the effects of climate change in the area.
"The algae is not dangerous, it is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the spring and summer periods in the middle latitudes but also at the Poles," Biagio Di Mauro of Italy's National Research Council told AFP.
The algae, called Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, has also been found in a 248-mile-long stripe of rapidly melting ice in Greenland called the "dark zone." The area can be seen in satellite imagery, where the melting ice takes on a more gray color than the white ice around it.
The plant, known as Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, is present in Greenland’s so-called Dark Zone, where the ice is also melting (AFP Photo/Miguel MEDINA)
"Pristine snow has a very high albedo, reflecting nearly all light. Anything that darkens a surface lowers its albedo and increases absorption of light energy, converting it to heat," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews said.
Normal ice typically reflects 80% of the sun's light, but as it darkens, it absorbs more light, making it hotter. Therefore, the darkened color of the pink snow allows it to heat up, leading it to melt faster.
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Andrews said pink snow in the Alps can be due to a variety of reasons, including dust from the Sahara getting picked up in storm clouds and dropped into Europe in rain and snow.
The algae requires an organic or mineral matter in the snow for it to feed on, and atmospheric dust falling on or with the snow could be just the nutrients the algae needs.
"The algae need nutrients and food, essentially dust, organic carbon and water," Alun Hubbard, a professor at Norway's Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, said, according to Live Science. "In summer, these are plentiful, and the algal bloom takes off."
"Because algae are dark in color, they reinforce the dark zone. Thereby you get a positive feedback effect where the ice sheet absorbs even more solar radiation, producing yet more melt," he said.
As the ice melts, more algae grows, which speeds the process up even more. The ice sheet in Greenland where the dark zone is located makes up more than 80% of the country's land mass and accounts for 8% of the worlds fresh water. If it were to melt completely, global sea levels would rise 23 feet.
NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland campaign flew over a region of open water at the calving front of Helheim Glacier on Aug. 15, 2019, dropping a temperature probe that detected warm water. The open water is visible in the 2019 Landsat image above. (NASA/Josh Willis)
Rising sea levels, even on a small scale, can have "devastating" effects, according to National Geographic. It can disrupt costal habitats, cause erosion, flooding and contaminate aquifer and agricultural soil with salt. Higher sea levels have also been linked to dangerous hurricanes and typhoons.
Di Mauro said hikers and ski lifts are also impacting the algae, however, they are, "trying to quantify the effect of other phenomena besides the human one on the overheating of the Earth."
As tourists continue to visit the area, a few expressed their concern over the impacts of the algae on climate change.
"Overheating of the planet is a problem, the last thing we needed was algae," Marta Durante, a tourist at the glacier, told AFP. "Unfortunately we are doing irreversible damage. We are already at the point of no return, I think."
Elisa Pongini, a tourist from Florence, told AFP she felt Earth was "giving us back everything we have done to it."
"2020 is a special year: terrible things have happened," she said. "In my opinion, atmospheric phenomena are worsening. Climate change is increasingly evident."
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Weather News
Pink snow on Italian Alps could have a lasting impact
By Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Jul 10, 2020 10:56 PM EDT
Scientists in Italy are investigating the appearance of pink glacial ice in the Alps, suspected to be caused by algae compounding the effects of climate change.
Scientists in Italy are now investigating pink snow on Presena Glacier in the Alps and how it could potentially accelerate the effects of climate change in the area.
"The algae is not dangerous, it is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the spring and summer periods in the middle latitudes but also at the Poles," Biagio Di Mauro of Italy's National Research Council told AFP.
The algae, called Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, has also been found in a 248-mile-long stripe of rapidly melting ice in Greenland called the "dark zone." The area can be seen in satellite imagery, where the melting ice takes on a more gray color than the white ice around it.
The plant, known as Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, is present in Greenland’s so-called Dark Zone, where the ice is also melting (AFP Photo/Miguel MEDINA)
"Pristine snow has a very high albedo, reflecting nearly all light. Anything that darkens a surface lowers its albedo and increases absorption of light energy, converting it to heat," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews said.
Normal ice typically reflects 80% of the sun's light, but as it darkens, it absorbs more light, making it hotter. Therefore, the darkened color of the pink snow allows it to heat up, leading it to melt faster.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Andrews said pink snow in the Alps can be due to a variety of reasons, including dust from the Sahara getting picked up in storm clouds and dropped into Europe in rain and snow.
The algae requires an organic or mineral matter in the snow for it to feed on, and atmospheric dust falling on or with the snow could be just the nutrients the algae needs.
"The algae need nutrients and food, essentially dust, organic carbon and water," Alun Hubbard, a professor at Norway's Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, said, according to Live Science. "In summer, these are plentiful, and the algal bloom takes off."
"Because algae are dark in color, they reinforce the dark zone. Thereby you get a positive feedback effect where the ice sheet absorbs even more solar radiation, producing yet more melt," he said.
As the ice melts, more algae grows, which speeds the process up even more. The ice sheet in Greenland where the dark zone is located makes up more than 80% of the country's land mass and accounts for 8% of the worlds fresh water. If it were to melt completely, global sea levels would rise 23 feet.
NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland campaign flew over a region of open water at the calving front of Helheim Glacier on Aug. 15, 2019, dropping a temperature probe that detected warm water. The open water is visible in the 2019 Landsat image above. (NASA/Josh Willis)
Rising sea levels, even on a small scale, can have "devastating" effects, according to National Geographic. It can disrupt costal habitats, cause erosion, flooding and contaminate aquifer and agricultural soil with salt. Higher sea levels have also been linked to dangerous hurricanes and typhoons.
Di Mauro said hikers and ski lifts are also impacting the algae, however, they are, "trying to quantify the effect of other phenomena besides the human one on the overheating of the Earth."
As tourists continue to visit the area, a few expressed their concern over the impacts of the algae on climate change.
Related:
"Overheating of the planet is a problem, the last thing we needed was algae," Marta Durante, a tourist at the glacier, told AFP. "Unfortunately we are doing irreversible damage. We are already at the point of no return, I think."
Elisa Pongini, a tourist from Florence, told AFP she felt Earth was "giving us back everything we have done to it."
"2020 is a special year: terrible things have happened," she said. "In my opinion, atmospheric phenomena are worsening. Climate change is increasingly evident."
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo