In Italy, the Presena glacier is turning pink due to algae, and this will make the ice melt even faster.
Blagio di Mauro from the Institute of Polar Sciences at Italy’s National Research Council told CNN that pink snow has appeared on the glacier. It’s sometimes known as watermelon snow and is fairly common in the Alps during the spring and summer. However, it’s been more present this year.
Di Mauro believes that the alga named Chlamydomonas nivalis is the culprit that changed the color of the snow.
He also told Science Alert, “Everything that darkens the snow causes it to melt because it accelerates the absorption of radiation. We are trying to quantify the effect of other phenomena besides the human one on the overheating of the Earth.”
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