The Alps are turning green

The Earth is changing, not only in human habitats but also at the North and South Poles and in high mountain plateaus far from humans. And many of these changes are to a large extent related to us humans, and we humans are responsible for some of the changes on the planet. Because it is our human activities that cause these changes to occur, or we exacerbate the rate of these changes.

01 The Alps are turning green

A study of satellite images spanning more than 30 years shows dramatic changes in the European Alps between 1984 and 2021. Over the years, the rate of ice melt in the Alps has accelerated significantly, which is directly related to global warming. In addition, the Alps are rapidly "turning green" and are growing a lot of vegetation.

Some of you may think that this is a good thing, but some of you may think that it is not good news. Some people think this is good news because we have been planting trees over the years to make the earth greener, hoping that the green plants will absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to mitigate the warming trend. The reason some people think this is bad news is that the mountains themselves are in a white-capped state, and turning them into a lush green landscape will cause a host of problems.

Although we are planting trees, the appearance of large amounts of greenery at the North and South Poles or in high mountain plateaus is not good news, and it will exacerbate the rise in the Earth's temperature. Because the white snow can reflect a lot of sunlight, the surface temperature will not be very high, and the ice will not melt very fast. But when the white-capped snow turns into a green scene or directly exposes the land outside, it can not efficiently reflect the sunlight, but absorb a lot of heat, then the melting speed of snow and ice will become faster, and gradually, the green area is getting bigger and bigger, while the area of snow is getting smaller and smaller. In other words, the Alps becoming greener may greatly increase the rate of snow and ice melting in the Alps, and eventually, there will be less and less snow and ice in the Alps, and as there is less and less snow and ice, the green area will become larger and larger. This can be said to be a vicious circle of problems. So some scientists are worried already.

02 Alps had turned red

This is not the first time that the Alps have been found to change color. In addition to the problem of turning green, the Alps have previously had the problem of turning red. Researchers once found some pink glaciers in the Alps, that is, the original white-capped snow turned pink. Whether it is turning green or turning pink, it will absorb a lot of heat and further speed up the melting of snow and ice, so this is not good news and needs our attention.

The reason why the snow in the Alps turns pink is due to algae called Ancylonema nordenskioeldii. These algae are dormant when it is cold, but when the temperature rises and the glaciers melt, these dormant algae will wake up and grow fast, growing pink spores. With a large number of algae awakening, the white snow will turn pink. And as the snow changes color and absorbs more heat, the melting speed will be accelerated, and eventually, more and more algae will wake up, and the pink snow area will become larger and larger. This is also a vicious circle.

03 Everest also turns green

The Earth's highest peak, Mount Everest, has also been found to be turning green. A scientific report published in Global Change Biology points out that scientists analyzing satellite photos of Mount Everest found a lot of green plants, grasses, and bushes growing on top of Mount Everest. According to the data, green vegetation has been found on Everest at an altitude of 6,159 meters. During the period from 1993 to 2018, the area of green vegetation on Everest has been increasing and the coverage has gradually increased. Scientists believe that the increasing amount of green vegetation on top of Everest is the most intuitive manifestation of the accelerated rate of snow and ice melt, as it indicates that more and more land is exposed on top of Everest.

04 What should humans do?

The problems brought about by climate warming are not only the high mountain plateau, the north, and south polar regions glaciers melt faster, become green, red and other problems, but there are also many problems that we did not expect or expected, many problems will eventually "return" to our own, we human beings can not stay out of it. So, what should we do?

As the only home of human beings, protecting the Earth is the only thing we can do now. Over the years, we have indeed been trying to protect the earth and mitigate the warming trend, and one of the measures we often talk about is afforestation. The Nature sub-publication Nature Sustainability once published a study that between 2000 and 2017, the earth added almost as much green vegetation as an Amazon rainforest, the earth became greener, and China and India contributed one-third of the green vegetation growth for the earth.

In addition to preserving the Earth, we need to make efforts to explore the universe and find some outer planets that are habitable for us in the vast depths of the universe. Because the Earth will not be habitable forever, as the sun's temperature and brightness continue to rise, the Earth will become hotter and hotter in the future, and scientists predict that in a billion years, the Earth may no longer be habitable. So the ultimate way out for us humans is to go to the stars and immigrate to other planets.

Scientists have discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets, and have selected 24 "super habitable" planets from the known exoplanets, which have relatively good environmental conditions, suitable temperature, and oxygen content in the atmosphere. These "super-habitable" planets have relatively good environmental conditions, with relatively good temperatures and atmospheric oxygen content, and should theoretically be habitable for humans. Some scientists believe that living on these "super habitable" planets may be more comfortable than on Earth. However, the distance between these "super habitable" planets and our Earth is too far, and we will not be able to reach these "super habitable" planets for a long time in the future, so the most urgent task now is to protect the Earth, and at the same time strive to protect the Earth Development of science and technology, and strive to master the ability to interplanetary flight, interplanetary migration as soon as possible.