Gory images of blood-red ice in Antartica shook the scientists at Ukraine's Vernadsky Research Base in Antarctica. Marine ecologist Andrey Zotov from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, captured these images while conducting research at the Antarctic station.
The astounding images of snow drenched in blood, is not due to some massive seal or whale hunt. It’s an astonishingly red-pigmented, microscopic algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis, which thrives in freezing water as the ice melts during Antarctica’s record-breaking warm summer.
Blood red Antarctica
Wait! unfortunately, this natural phenomenon still has dire implications.
Blood-red snow in Antarctica
The algae C. Nivalis is a green algae as it has chloroplast for the process of photosynthesis. It has two locomotory organs called flagella at their young age to swim in liquid water. As they grow and gain maturity, their mobility is regressed. In a bid to fight against extreme conditions, they develop adaptations such as hard, insulating cell wall and with that a layer of red carotenoids. These carotenoids were the responsible factor that led to snow becoming red in the research base in Antarctica.
Red-pigmented, microscopic algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis
This variety of Algae resides deep inside the snow layer but once the favorable condition comes, the algae spring awake, making use of the meltwater and sunlight to bloom rapidly. The carotenoids help Chlamydomonas to absorb more warmth which in turn creates more meltwater for them to thrive in. This phenomenon is known as Algal Bloom.
Algal Bloom has serious consequences on the environment. Algal Bloom decreases the reflection of light from snow and subsequently leads to more absorption. On average, Algal Bloom lowers the reflection of light from snow by up to 13 percent in one melt season in the Arctic region. An increase in absorption of light and a decrease in reflection will ultimately lead to higher melt rates and thereby enhancing the rate of global warming.
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