![imrs[1].jpg&w=1484.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/MQjn15D.jpg "imrs[1].jpg&w=1484.jpg")
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/23/arctic-snow-is-turning-strawberry-pink-pretty-maybe-but-alarming/
>Pink snow was a high-latitude curiosity described by Arctic explorers such as Britain’s John Ross. Upon receiving word of the reddish snow, the London Times speculated in 1818 that the color came from meteoric iron deposits. Biologists know now that the red hue is the result of a chemical reaction within the algae Chlamydomonas nivalis and other cold-loving species. These algae are normally green, but as they start to suck up ultraviolet rays, they turn red.
>What may look like an Arctic accident involving gallons of pink lemonade is, in fact, reddish algae blooming in the snow. The unusual phenomenon is also found in high altitudes, and sometimes called watermelon snow or blood snow.
>Despite the Willy Wonka tinge, the snow hides a sobering reality: According to a new study, the algae cause Arctic melts, which are already happening at an unprecedented pace because of climate change,to worsen.
...
>Although scientists had already figured out why the snow was pink, the effects that the algae had on the wintry environment remained an understudied and fairly obscure topic.
>But the new research from a team of geobiologists in Germany and Britain could expand that niche status. In their paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers examined 40 red-snow samples, representing 16 glaciers and snowfields from four Arctic countries: Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland. The red algae darkens the snow, they found, causing it to melt faster than its white counterpart.
>Specifically, the European scientists measured the red snow’s albedo, the proportion of light reflected from a surface. It is a property of color: Dark objects, by definition, absorb a higher percentage of incoming light. When a British company, Surrey NanoSystems, created the blackest substance known to science — a paste of carbon nanotubes called Vantablack — its albedo was measured at 0.035. That is, it absorbed 99.965 percent of incoming light.
>Because light is energy, objects that take in more light become hotter. Conversely, lighter-colored objects reflect more energy and stay cooler. Albedo is why Lawrence of Arabia was smart to wear white robes. It is why former energy secretary Steven Chu championed painting rooftops white to keep structures cooler, as dark gravel or shingles would mean buildings are converting light to heat.
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>This principle is also why scientists are concerned about darker snow — it would be a bit like a glacier tossing on a red shirt (lower albedo) instead of a plain white tee (high albedo).
>The presence of red algae, on average, decreased albedo by 13 percent over the duration of the melting season. “Our results point out that the ‘bio-albedo’ effect is important and has to be considered in future climate models,” Lutz said in a statement. The researchers note that current climate-change models account for details such as black carbon from forest fires and Saharan dust. The scientists suggest algae, too, needs to be considered.
>Exactly how large or small a role algae plays in melting glaciers is unclear, and the scientists plan to study it in more depth. But the geobiologists are concerned that the decrease in albedo may act like a positive feedback loop. As more algae bloom, more snow thaws — and, nourished by the unfrozen water, even more of the microorganisms are able to grow. And so on.
>This study underscores the far-reaching effects of climate change, down to the smallest of organisms. A warm Arctic happens to be good news, if you are a fleck of red algae.
>For polar bears, people who own real estate in Florida and global civilization generally, the outlook may not be so hot.
>>53026
It now looks like a bloodstained northern battlefield.
Kind of like how I feel about Americucks denying Climate Science.
Is red algae worth keeping around? It seems like more of a pest than any other form of algae.
>>53148
It's a global nuisance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tide
>>53148
>>53149
Illiterate morons. Chlamydomonas are green algae of Kingdom Plantae -- they are photosynthetic chlorophytes who turn red due to a chemical reaction, according to the article.
Red algae are quite different as they lack chloroplasts, but their actual classification is still disputed and if one wants they could also be put into Plantae.
Red tide is caused by dinoflagellates which are firmly Protista (i.e. not Plantae), specifically SAR by modern classification. They are far more primitive than the above algae, and are quite diverse themselves: about half have chloroplasts while half are heterotrophs, for example.
tldr; you've successfully confused three entirely different things. STOP BEING SO STUPID!
>>53170
>I'm a spastic!
Well done.
>>53170
Wrong.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.4319/lo.1997.42.5_part_2.1252/pdf
>>53192
What exactly does that contradict, other than noting the significant bacterial contribution to red tide toxicity (which I admittedly neglected to include)? Fyi, the reason the article puts "'algal' bloom" in quotation marks is precisely because the toxic bloom is not actually algal.
The Maldives must be a depressing place to live. Every other day they get more bad news that their nation will soon be underwater. It's funny but not for them
>>54038
>It's funny but not for them
wut? they get FREE MONEY every time they cry and someone believe them. It's a lot of fun.
Same with the coral reef: it has its natural ups and downs; every year you cry "it's bleaching to death", get free money, rinse, repeat every fucking year.
>Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they turned to blood.
>>54041
You're evading the idea that The Maldives will actually be underwater in a few years. This is happening regardless of whether you think Climate Change is a result of this or not. Try to vacation there while you can, those few piles of sand won't be able to withstand the waves for long.
>get free money, rinse, repeat every fucking year.
Except that there's a termination date here.
