科學家在南極洲拍攝了令人難以置信的“西瓜”雪的照片

科學家在南極洲拍攝了令人難以置信的“西瓜”雪的照片

Ukranian scientists stationed at the Vernadsky Research Base on Galindez Island had quite the surprise walking outside earlier this week. The snow around the Antarctic base had turned from white to shades of pink and red. But don’t worry, no penguins were harmed or responsible for the change of color.

本周早些時候，駐扎在加林茲島沃爾納德斯基研究基地的烏克蘭科學家們在戶外散步時，著實吃了一驚。南極基地周圍的雪從白色變成了粉紅色和紅色。但別擔心，沒有企鵝受到傷害，也沒有企鵝變色的原因。

The culprit behind the coloration is Chlamydomonas nivalis, a red algae that is typically found in ice and snow on mountain ranges as well as at the poles. Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Science explained the phenomenon in a Facebook post, describing the snow as the color of "raspberry jam".

造成這種顏色的罪魁禍首是nivalis衣藻，這是一種紅色藻類，通常存在于山脈的冰雪中以及極地。烏克蘭教育和科學部在臉書上解釋了這一現(xiàn)象，稱雪的顏色為“覆盆子醬”。

It may look delicious, but it's not a good sign.

它可能看起來很美味，但這不是一個好跡象。

Andriy Zotov/Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Science

These tiny organisms have found their niche in extremely cold climates. During the winter months, they are dormant, waiting for the ice and snow to thaw. When the environment warms up, they blossom and replicate into their surroundings. The algae change color from green to orange to red during its life cycle, with blooms particularly intense during long stretches of fair temperatures.

這些微生物在極冷的氣候中找到了它們的生存空間。在冬季，它們蟄伏，等待冰雪融化。當環(huán)境變暖時，它們會開花并在周圍繁殖。在它的生命周期中，藻類的顏色從綠色到橙色再到紅色，在長時間的適宜溫度下，藻類會大量繁殖。

The weather has been unusually warm in Antarctica this season. The hottest-ever recorded temperature in the southernmost continent was set early this month with an incredible 18.3°C (64.9°F) at the Argentinian research base Esperanza, 405 kilometers (252 miles) from Vernadsky Research Base.

這個季節(jié)南極洲的天氣異常溫暖。本月初，距沃爾納德斯基研究基地405公里(252英里)的阿根廷研究基地埃斯佩朗薩(Esperanza)創(chuàng)下了史上最南端大陸溫度最高記錄，達到了令人難以置信的18.3攝氏度(64.9華氏度)。

Andriy Zotov/Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Science

Large algae blooms such as these have a deleterious effect on the ice and the melting of glaciers in many geographical locations. Ice being white is really good at reflecting light away, reducing the amount of heat the glacier absorbs. Since the algae is darker in coloration, it reflects less sunlight and therefore results in the glaciers melting faster.

像這樣的大規(guī)模藻類爆發(fā)對許多地理位置的冰和冰川的融化產(chǎn)生了有害的影響。因為冰是白色的，所以很容易反射光線，減少冰川吸收的熱量。由于藻類顏色較深，它反射的陽光較少，因此導致冰川融化更快。

As discussed in a Nature Communications study from a few years back, algae can reduce the albedo of snow (its reflectivity) by up to 13 percent. Given that warmer temperatures across the globe create earlier and longer blooms for the algae, there is a vicious circle between the tiny organisms, climate change, and the melting of glaciers across the world.

正如幾年前《自然通訊》的一項研究中所討論的那樣，藻類可以將雪的反照率(其反射率)降低至多13%?？紤]到全球變暖會使藻類更早、更長久地大量繁殖，在微小生物、氣候變化和全球冰川融化之間形成了一個惡性循環(huán)。