Glacial Rivers Turned Orange in Alaska: So Why?

The northernmost state of the USA Alaskaspends most of the year under snow and ice. With the arrival of the summer months, some of this snow and growing glaciers melt and form rivers. These waters, which are transparent under normal conditions, have turned orange so that they can be seen even from space.

Realizing this situation in 2018 Jon O’Donnell, Ecologist with the National Park Service. Using satellite imagery, he and University of California toxicologist Brett Poulin observed the extent and effects of this change. The resulting situation revealed another unexpected effect of global warming.

Orange water has been coming out of melting glaciers for the last 10 years

Researchers studying the Brooks Range in Alaska, On more than 75 streams observed this color change. In other words, this situation was not caused by contamination specific to a single source. Thereupon, the researchers began collecting water samples from each stream. During the examinations, iron and other heavy toxic metals were found in these liquids.

According to researchers, the explanation for this situation is in global warming lies. Stating that this situation has only been seen in the last decade, scientists stated that the normally frozen soil has warmed up due to global warming, and therefore materials trapped in the soil have emerged. The impact of global warming is four times greater in the polar region.