Eerie photos of Antarctica show ‘blood-red ice’ in creepy ‘climate omen’
BLOOD-RED snow has been spotted in Antarctica as researchers warn this is a sign of climate change.
Anyone looking at the spooky images of the "blood snow" would be forgiven for thinking the land was bleeding but it's actually algae that's to blame.
For the past few weeks, the ice surrounding Ukraine's Vernadsky Research Base has been covered in what the researchers are calling "raspberry snow".
They jokingly refer to the red substance as "jam" and have seen it appearing all around them as summer in Antarctica blazes on.
The "blood" or "jam" is actually a type of red pigmented algae called Chlamydomonas Chlamydomonas nivalis.
The algae thrives in freezing water and usually lies dormant beneath snow and ice until summertime melts some of the snow away.
This isn't a new phenomenon and was actually spotted by ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle back in the third century BC.
The algae looks red because it contains similar pigments to what makes carrots and pumpkins orange.
";Because of the red-crimson color, the snow reflects less sunlight and melts faster. As a consequence, it produces more and more bright algae."
The more heat absorbed by the algae, the faster the ice around it melts.
The less ice, the quicker the algae can spread.
It's a vicious circle that's only exacerbated by warmer temperatures.
A similar process is currently creating extreme algal blooms in oceans all over the world.
If global temperatures continue to rise then these strange events are expected to become more common.
Climate change explained
Here are the basic facts...
- Scientists have lots of evidence to show that the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing due to human activity
- Climate change will result in problems like global warming, greater risk of flooding, droughts and regular heatwaves
- Each of the last three decades have been hotter than the previous one and 17 of the 18 warmest years on record have happened during the 21st century
- The Earth only needs to increase by a few degrees for it to spell disaster
- The oceans are already warming, polar ice and glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising and we’re seeing more extreme weather events
- In 2015, almost all of the world's nations signed a deal called the Paris Agreement which set out ways in which they could tackle climate change and try to keep temperatures below 2C
In other news, soaring temperatures in Antarctica have resulted in a never-before-seen island emerging from the ocean.
Rare ice volcanoes have been spotted on Lake Michiganthanks to a recent cold snap.
And, magical scenes in oceans and rivers have been revealed by the Underwater Photographer of the Year Awards 2020.
What do you think of this red snow? Let us know in the comments...
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