The annual “flowering” of snow has begun near the Ukrainian polar station “Akademik Vernadskyi”.

In the Antarctic near the Ukrainian station “Akademik Vernadskyi” the snow turned pink. According to scientists, the pink patterns on the white cover are the “flowering” of snow at the end of the Antarctic summer.

“This color appears as a result of the development of microscopic green unicellular algae in the snow,” the National Antarctic Science Center explained.

According to experts, the algae has three color stages: green, orange, and purple or crimson. Algae winters under the snow in a “green” version, where chlorophyll predominates, and when it gets warmer, it moves closer to the surface and turns red.

“The blooming of snow contributes to climate change. After all, due to its color, the snow reflects less sunlight and melts faster. As a result, more and more bright algae develop in it, which accelerates the melting,” say the researchers. Therefore, it is important to record the area of ​​”blooming snow” every year in order to see the general trends of the impact of climate change. Ukrainian biologists at the station carry out this work with the help of a drone.

Work of the Ukrainian polar station “Akademik Vernadskyi” – what is known

“Akademik Vernadskyi” is the only Ukrainian Antarctic station located on Galindez Island. It works constantly and is a meteorological and geographical observatory.

For example, Ukrainian polar explorers recently shared pictures of penguins in love, and in September of last year, polar explorers showed the first seal pups of the season.