It’s been just revealed that pink snow, which is also known as “watermelon snow” appeared at the Presena glacier in northern Italy, according to the researcher Biagio Di Mauro of the Institute of Polar Sciences at Italy’s National Research Council.
It’s been also highlighted the fact that it’s not uncommon for the Italian alps to witness this phenomenon in spring and summer, experts became cautious with this.
The phenomenon is caused by algae
The phenomenon is reportedly caused by algae and it starts happening more frequently, according to the latest news coming from CNET.
It’s been revealed that Di Mauro told CNN that 2020’s lack of snowfall and the higher temperatures have led to the algae’s growth and more of this could lead to ice melting faster than before.
DiMauro posted the following tweet in order to clarify an article from The Guardian and he said the following:
Imporant clarification:
1- The alga was probably Chlamydomonas nivalis (a snow alga), not Ancylonema nordenskioeldi (a glacier alga)
2- the phenomen is quite common in the Alps
3- the relationship with climate change has yet to be proven@guardian @afpfr https://t.co/mG6RARexTD— Biagio Di Mauro (@DiMauro_b) July 6, 2020
Also, he tweeted some photos to show followers the pink snow at the bringing of this week.
#Snow #algae sampling at Presena #glacier
?: @22n23 pic.twitter.com/DtmkaAgElR— Biagio Di Mauro (@DiMauro_b) July 6, 2020
Your Tweet was quoted in an article by @CNET https://t.co/YT17zOEZCd
— Recite Social (@ReciteSocial) July 6, 2020
This triggered enthusiasm among followers, and someone responded: “I have seen the same red snow while hiking above Les Trois Vallees in Savoie, France. Also, some above Pralognan.”
Another important thing worth noting is the fact that across the ocean, back in May, Antarctica reported some green snow, which was caused by microscopic algae.
Even if they were microscopic, the blooms could be spotted by satellites as well.
