Watermelon Snow

(Image credit: Andriy Zotov)

Scientists found the ice near Verdansky Research Base in northern Antarctica eerily stained with crimson-colored snow this week. What looks like blood is actually a type of red-hued alga called Chlamydomonas Chlamydomonas nivalis. Every summer, when snow around the world begins to melt, the ice-dwelling algae emerge from their cold storage to take in nutrients and spread red spores across the snow. The phenomenon is known as "watermelon snow" or "blood snow," and it's likely to happen more often as global temperatures rise — even in the world's coldest places.