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People who often visit the mountains are shocked by the rapid change in the shade of the surrounding landscapes. Climatologists came to investigate the situation.


Who covered the snow with blood?


Out of habit, inexperienced travelers sometimes get scared. And although such a picture has been observed in the mountains since ancient times, in recent years it has begun to disturb even seasoned tourists. And even more bloody landscapes interested climate experts. They noticed that in the French Alps, more and more wide open spaces are acquiring a peculiar shade.


It is widely known that microscopic algae living in the snow create the impression of the consequences of the massacre. For example, these are.


Микроводоросли Sanguina nivaloides. Фото © FEMS Microbiology Ecology


Creatures in thousandths of millimeters in size have adapted to live between snowflakes at temperatures that fluctuate around zero. As scientists suggest, they are distributed by animals and, possibly, air transport. But there is a version that in fact their ancestors settled in the mountains back in the late Proterozoic, that is, more than 600 million years ago, when the planet was almost entirely covered with ice.


Why are is it red?


Фото © Jean-Gabriel VALAY / JARDIN DU LAUTARET / UGA / CNRS


They contain a special pigment similar to the one that gives the red color of carrots - astaxanthin. It is he, by the way, that makes crabs, shrimps red, gives the famous color to salmon and trout meat. Finally, it also decorates amazing pink flamingos. Astaxanthin is good because it protects against solar ultraviolet radiation, which, of course, is very important in hot countries. But lately it has become more and more important in the snowy regions.


What's wrong with them?


In 2016, French microbiologists climbed the mountains to a height of almost three kilometers and collected samples of two species of red microalgae there: Sanguina nivaloides and Sanguina aurantia. It is curious that the first of them actually live all over the planet, but the second - only in the Northern Hemisphere and, moreover, clearly prefer the Alps.


Микроводоросли Sanguina aurantia. Фото © FEMS Microbiology Ecology


But both of them settled at an altitude of two kilometers. This is quite logical: there is more ultraviolet radiation at the top, so algae without a protective substance would be uncomfortable there. But still the question remains why there are so many of them. And the answer is simple: photosynthesis takes place in these algae, that is, the absorption of carbon dioxide and the production of oxygen. And as you know, the notorious global warming is primarily to blame for the excess of CO2. The abundance of this greenhouse gas could not help but please photosynthetic creatures.



It would seem, well, good health. But there is a nuance. If the snow turns red, it darkens, which means it absorbs more sunlight and heat. As a result, it heats up and melts more. It turns out that climate change is proceeding like a bloody snowball: carbon dioxide - warming - algae bloom - accelerated melting of ice - even stronger warming.

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Swiss Alps😍

4 years ago
swiss-alps
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