1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,799 Speaker 1: there's chuck this short stuff. That's right, What are you 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: gonna say? I was saying, yeah, I was wrapping up 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: my little song. Oh man, can we start over? Sure? 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: All right? Hey, everybody, welcome to short Stuff. I'm chucked. Hey, 6 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: wait a minute, this is going wrong already. All right, 7 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: we're here to talk about red snow and this the 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: origin material here was from our old friends at houstuffworks 9 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: dot com and Mark Mancini with his article the Amazing 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: and Alarming science behind red Snow. Yes, because snow is 11 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: not supposed to be red. And when the snow turns red, 12 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: you know things have gotten biblical. I thought you were 13 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: about to say, like a rhyming. I could have. I 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: chose not to. Specifically, when the snow turns red. That 15 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: means you're not gonna enjoy the future. It's kind of 16 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 1: what that means. I thought it was great. Mark A. 17 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: Mancini went to the trouble of saying like, Okay, snow's 18 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: normally white, and here's why. And I feel like we 19 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: should honor his work by mentioning it to you. Let's 20 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: hear it. Why is it white? Oh? Because the crystals 21 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: that make up ice or snow scatter all colors on 22 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: the visible wavelength, so everything's reflected back as just white. 23 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,119 Speaker 1: Because they all mixed together, no color gets absorbed, and 24 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: so the snow doesn't seem like blue or red normally. 25 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,119 Speaker 1: It can turn red, and it's actually we've known it 26 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: turns red once in a while for a very long time. 27 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: This is news to me, but apparently as far back 28 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: as Pliny the Elder again, yeah, I love that guy. 29 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: He was writing from twenty three to seventy nine CE, 30 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: and he wrote about red tennant snow as well. Yeah, 31 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: I mean Pliny the Elder wrote about red snow. I 32 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: think in the in the Middle Ages there were people 33 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: talking about red snow. There's a guy named Randall Servenni, 34 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: who it looks like Mark might have actually interviewed for 35 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: this article. In this Randall wrote a book as a 36 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: professor at Arizona State University called Freaks of the Storm, 37 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: which is about kind of wacky weather, and there was 38 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: a chapter on red snow and he said, you know, 39 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: Charles Darwin saw red snow and the Andes Mountains. It 40 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: was white and when it turned red as it thawed 41 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: and so a lot of like very famous people in 42 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: history have been kind of freaked out by seeing this phenomenon. 43 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 1: I don't know at what point we figured this out, 44 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: but apparently by the time Darwin was around in the 45 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: mid nineteenth century and seeing red snow in the Andes, 46 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: he knew what it was. So it like at least 47 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: by the mid nineteenth century, we knew that red snow, 48 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: it turns out, is actually caused by green algae of 49 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: all things. Yeah, and that's you know, we'll get in 50 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: after the jump to exactly what's going on there. It 51 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: can also you can get like reddish pinkish hues if 52 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:11,359 Speaker 1: like Saharan dust blows like into Europe or something like that. 53 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: That's not the kind of red snow we're talking about. 54 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: We're talking about and if you see pictures of like 55 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: legit red snow and as it melts, red water flows 56 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: and waterfalls all over the world, And like you said, 57 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: it's green algae specifically, clama dominus nivalis very nice. I 58 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,639 Speaker 1: practiced it too. I think you nailed it. Let's hear 59 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: your version, clamidinous nivalis. It sounds like we both just 60 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: cast a magic spell. Either way, though, I'd love Latin 61 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: for that reason. All right, well, let's take an early 62 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: break since that's a pseudo cliffhanger. Maybe that's what we 63 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: just conjured was a break, and we'll tell you all 64 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: about how green algae can turn white snow red right 65 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: after this. Okay, So Clomidamnus clemidamnus, Yeah, novalis is a 66 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: type of green algae, like we said, but we've been 67 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: talking about red snow and the reason. Um well, let 68 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: me tell you a little bit more about this green algae. First, 69 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 1: let's hear you get into why it's I've seen it 70 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: written about as a cryophilic microu carryote, meaning it loves 71 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: the cold, and it's a very tiny u carryote. It's 72 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 1: like La Nina means the Nina, right, it's from Kingdom Plante. 73 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: It's a plant, but it's also mobile. It's very very 74 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: bizarre in no small part because again it's green, but 75 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: and it's a plant, but it lives in high altitude 76 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: snowfields like the Arctic or in the Andes Mountains. And 77 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: it's green, but it produces a red pigment called asta 78 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: zanthon during warm seasons. And here's the crux of everything. 79 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: If green algae didn't produce asta zanthon, we probably would 80 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: not be talking about it right now. Yeah, that's a 81 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: good point. The stuff is pretty interesting. There's a biologist 82 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: named Arwin Edwards who I think was also interviewed for 83 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: this article, who says that this red pigment xts kind 84 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: of like a sunscreen. Yea. It helps protect the organisms 85 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: from excessive solar radiation during the warm seasons. And so 86 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: what happens is during the wintertime, these organisms go dormant 87 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: spring springs, and then they come to the surface and bloom. 88 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: But you know, it can't just bloom as in snow 89 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: like algae needs like liquid water to bloom. So as 90 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,840 Speaker 1: the snow melts, it becomes more of that sort of 91 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: wet snow, and that's when the algae release starts blooming. 92 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: In the wet snow, those algile cells get going and 93 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: they photosynthesize, and this is where that red pigment comes about. Yeah, 94 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: and so if you get a bunch of these things together, 95 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,239 Speaker 1: and a lot of them can get together a single 96 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: millimeter of snow, I guess a cubic melimeter can contain 97 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: half a million of these individuals. There's a lot of them, 98 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: and when you put a lot of them together, the 99 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 1: snow turns red and not just like, oh, it looks 100 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: kind of reddish. Especially when it melts, it is like 101 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: a puddle of blood. It looks like basically semi translucent blood. 102 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: It's that red. It's pretty cool looking in other words. Yeah, 103 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: And there's a problem though with it turning red, because, 104 00:06:58,080 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: like you said, it needs a little bit of melted 105 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: snow to start to bloom, to make it to the 106 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,160 Speaker 1: surface and start to thrive. But after it gets that 107 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: initial foothold, it kind of takes over itself because that 108 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: red pigment absorbs way more solar radiation than white snow. 109 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: White snow reflects everything, right, so white snow can stay 110 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: colder longer. If you've ever seen a snow pile that 111 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: got put in the corner of a parking lot in 112 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: the Midwest or north and is still there in like May, 113 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: that's because that that snow is reflecting back although that 114 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: solar radiation or a lot of it. If that was red, 115 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: it'd be melted by February, that's the saying. And this 116 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: stuff is red, so the more it blooms, the more 117 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: it absorbs heat, the more it warms the surrounding snow, 118 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: the more the snow melts. Yeah, I mean that that 119 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: white car that you have is going to be less 120 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: hot than your red car and certainly your black car. 121 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: That's why you see so many white cars in hot 122 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: places where hot climate, like out in the desert. And 123 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: it's the same deal here. So as the stuff turns round, 124 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: like you said, it sort of becomes a cycle, a 125 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: feedback loop where it starts melting more and more stuff, 126 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: and then that in turn, you know, can spread the 127 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: algae and all of a sudden you might have a 128 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: legit problem on your hands. And Nature magazine thinks that's 129 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: the case. In twenty sixteen, they published a report under 130 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: the leadership of Stephanie Let's believe from the University of Leeds, 131 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,719 Speaker 1: and they're basically saying, hey, there's about a five to 132 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 1: fifteen percent acceleration of glacier melting rates because of this 133 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: algae on the surface, because it's darker. Yeah, and we 134 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: should say this is not so new freak of nature, 135 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: like this has always been going on. The reason that 136 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: it's alarming, according to that twenty sixteen paper from Nature 137 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:57,199 Speaker 1: is that, like you just said, they're accelerating snow melt, 138 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: and because global temperatures are warming and Arctic snowmelt is 139 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: really important to climate change in general, they're saying, like, 140 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: we need to take this into effect when we start 141 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: making our climate models for glacial melting. And no one 142 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,559 Speaker 1: has until or no one did until twenty sixteen. But 143 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: their paper was so essentially irrefutable. They did exactly what 144 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:24,199 Speaker 1: they set out to do. Now people start to include 145 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:30,199 Speaker 1: red snow blooms into climate models. Yeah, I mean it's 146 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: kind of that simple. It's speeding things up, and they're 147 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: including it in those models because it's that that feedback 148 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: loop is happening, and you can't just you have to 149 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: include all the variables. And this is officially counts as 150 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: a variable. Yes, So yeah, you couldn't make a prediction 151 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: of like what kind of glacial melt you're going to 152 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: see as the temperature warms without taking that into account. 153 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,319 Speaker 1: It might they might melt way faster, fifteen percent faster 154 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: than you would account for, and your sea wall wouldn't 155 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: be built in time. So ts for you. You should 156 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: have taken red snow into account. That's right. One find 157 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:07,599 Speaker 1: a little button on this thanks to mister Mancini. We 158 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: now have learned that apparently this algae smells like watermelon. 159 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: I think who they interviewed said that they didn't smell 160 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: it themselves, but there are people that have reported this 161 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:27,319 Speaker 1: red pigment off gas is a water melanie like smell. Yes, 162 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: but Mark Mancini warns, don't eat it. Yeah, apparently the 163 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: people have eaten it and have blamed red snow for 164 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: gastric problems, and that's just not correct. It's probably something 165 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 1: else in the snow. But don't eat it anyway. Yeah, 166 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: don't eat the yellow snow. That's what Frank Zappa said. Ye, 167 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: and don't eat the red snow because we told you 168 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 1: by way of our friends at holstuffworks dot com. That's 169 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 1: the Chuck Bryant corollary. That's right. Uh, well, Chuck said, 170 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: that's right. Everybody that means short stuff is out. Stuff 171 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: you should know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more 172 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 1: podcasts My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 173 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.