Glacier Blood

Frozen in the ice sheets of the planet’s extreme latitudes, the alpine and continental glaciers, and the permafrost of cold climates, ice covers 10% of the surface of the Earth. These ice sheets, icebergs and glaciers are continually changing, growing and shrinking, moving and breaking apart. The constant transformation and flux of water across the surface of the Earth has been responsible for tremendous geophysical effects, and ice is an integral part of the Earth’s present environment. The frozen domains are also home to thousands of varieties of microbes, including resilient microalgae that can live off of the scarce resources around them. Due to the rapidly changing climate and conditions in many regions with permanent ice cover, these algae are multiplying faster than ever before and painting the ice on which they live shades of pink and red, a phenomenon referred to as glacier blood. The more and more frequent occurrence of glacier blood may be an indicator of pollution, and helps accelerate the melting of ice and snowpack, in turn warming the region and altering ecosystems downstream of the glaciers. Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rVZl9uFyQRQooXGZfyh4EXjv3RXOAfH7jNguhbpcFzI/edit Music by Emile van Krieken: https://www.youtube.com/user/EmilevanKrieken https://www.facebook.com/EmilevanKriekenMusic Song: Wings (Aether 2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klPo9v5dn64 Thanks for watching! Likes and favorites are appreciated! Find us on Facebook! http://bit.ly/293CevT