Sunday, June 26, 2016

Red Snow

Blooms of red algae in melting snow produce a pink color. A study published in Nature Communications shows how this algae has a significant positive feedback.
Turns out, red snow algae have a non-trivial effect on the albedo of the snowy surfaces they colonize, reducing it by as much as 13 percent.
Update (August 27):  Algae is contributing to Greenland's ice loss.

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