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Scientists are investigating the mysterious appearance of pink ice in glaciers of the Alps , Italy, caused by an algae that is accelerating the effects of climate change.
There is a debate about what is the origin of the algae, but Biagio Di Mauro , a researcher at the Council Nacoinal of Research of Italy, has said that the snow rose observed in some parts of the glacier Presena is probably caused by a type of algae found previously in Greenland.
” The algae is not dangerous, it is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the spring and summer months at middle latitudes but also in the poles,” said Di Mauro, who previously studied the algae on the glacier of Morteratsch in Switzerland.
aerial View over the glacier of Presena, near Pellizzano, in the past July 3 – AFP
The seaweed, known as Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, is also present in the Dark Zone of Greenland, where the ice is melting.
Normally, the ice reflects 80% of the radiation solar back to the atmosphere, but if this algae appears, the darkening absorbs more heat and accelerates the melting.
This leads to the appearance of more algae, which in turn speeds up the fusion, and gives them the air and water vital to add a red tinge to the ice of the Gavia Pass, at an altitude of 2.618 meters.
” All that darkens the snow cause its merger because it speeds the absorption of radiation,” said Di Mauro.
“we’re tratanto to quantify the effect of other phenomena, apart from the human on the warming of the Earth,” said the investigator, pointing out that the presence of hikers and skiers could also have an impact on the algae.
