---
title: "There’s Pink Snow in Europe. That Could Be Bad, Scientists Say"
description: "Snow in the Italian Alps in Europe is bright pink, due to algae blooms that could speed up the rate the snow melts."
date: "2020-07-07"
modified: "2020-07-15"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pink-snow-falling-europe"
categories:
  - "Climate Change"
  - "Environment"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "climate change"
  - "environment"
  - "snow"
  - "the digest"
---

# There’s Pink Snow in Europe. That Could Be Bad, Scientists Say

![Right now, the snow at the top of the Italian Alps is bright pink, thanks to an algae bloom that threatens to accelerate snowmelt.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pink-snow-europe-bad-sign-environment.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Denis Linine/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Dirty Snow

If you were to trek up the Italian Alps right now, you'd find your boots covered in bizarrely pink snow.

While it's a beautiful touch that turns the mountaintops into an alien landscape, *[Earther ](<https://earther.gizmodo.com/pink-snow-in-the-italian-alps-is-a-cute-sign-of-environ-1844279404>)*[reports](<https://earther.gizmodo.com/pink-snow-in-the-italian-alps-is-a-cute-sign-of-environ-1844279404>) that the pink snow is actually a pretty bad sign. The pink color comes from blooming algae. And while the full extent of its impact on the environment is poorly understood, it could speed up the rate at which snow melts away.

## What We Know

It's not so much that the algae is melting the snow itself, *Earther* reports. But rather, turning the snow into pink "strawberry snow," as it's sometimes called, makes it absorb more heat from sunlight, which causes it to melt sooner.

Blooms like this aren't unheard of — they're a [relatively common occurrence](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/bright-red-blood-snow-falling-from-sky-antarctica>) in glaciers in the spring and summer. It's not yet clear if rising temperatures linked to climate change will mean more blooms in the future, *Earther* reports, but there is the distinct possibility that more heat will mean more algae and less snow.

## Missing Information

Scientists do know that the snow is vanishing from the Alps. And many glaciers could [vanish this century](<https://futurism.com/greenlands-ice-caps-passed-point-no-return>), as mild snowfalls fail to replace the melting ice beneath it.

"Less solid precipitation during winter and higher air temperatures during spring and summer are expected to favor the formation of snow- and glacier-algae," Biagio Di Mauro of Italy's National Research Council told *Earther*.

*Update: Astute readers pointed out that the snow turns pink on the ground, rather than falling from the sky. Our headline, which originally suggested otherwise, has been updated.*

**READ MORE:** [Pink Snow in the Italian Alps Is a Cute Sign of Environmental Catastrophe](<https://earther.gizmodo.com/pink-snow-in-the-italian-alps-is-a-cute-sign-of-environ-1844279404>) \[*Earther*\]

**More on snow:** *[Residents Are Trying To Flee Russian Town Where Snow Turned Black](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/flee-russian-town-snow-black>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)