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Weird But Dangerous Natural Phenomena That Raise Climate Change Alert. Photo KnowInsiders
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Astronomical phenomena or beautiful natural phenomena are not too strange to many people. Whether witnessed with eyes or just observed through recorded images, these phenomena still make many people surprised with their beauty.

However, not everything is as beautiful as it seems. Besides the beautiful phenomena, there are also many natural scenes that occur due to the impact of climate change. This is considered a warning about bad effects of the environment on the planet as well as the human atmosphere.

4 Weirdest Natural Phenomena That Raise Climate Change Alert

1. Rainbow

Photo treehugger
Photo treehugger

Rainbow is known as a symbol of the future and new hopes, but from a scientific perspective, the more rainbows appear, the more it is related to climate change. The recent frequency of rainbows in the Arctic is gradually increasing. This is because global warming causes less snowfall. Instead of snowfall, big snow drops appear, increasing the brightness of the arcs. In addition, the Amazon forest area, where rainbows often appear, are predicted to experience more frequent droughts, partly because the area shrinks.

Climate change also affects tropical rains, creating fewer clouds, increasing sun heat.

According to a new study by researchers at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa, the average land location on Earth will experience about 5% more rainbows by the end of the 21st century. While it’s sensible to immediately blame rising leprechaun populations or unchecked use of the Care Bear Stare for an increase in this colorful phenomenon, the reality is a lot less amusing. Like other major changes in store for those living into the next century, the rate of rainbows will grow due to climate change.1

“By 2100, climate change is likely to generate a 4.0–4.9% net increase in mean global annual rainbow-days (i.e., days with at least one rainbow), with the greatest change under the highest emission scenario,” the researchers write. “Around 21–34% of land areas will lose rainbow-days and 66–79% will gain rainbow-days, with rainbow gain hotspots mainly in high-latitude and high-elevation regions with smaller human populations.”

2. Beach’s blue glow

Photo Daily Mail
Photo Daily Mail

The image of the waves emitting beautiful blue light on social networks has made many people think of a scenery from the fairy world. In fact, this is a phenomenon caused by Noctiluca algae, a type of phytoplankton that converts their chemical energy into light energy when washing ashore.

Sadly, according to maritime experts, this phenomenon is a sign of climate change and could have an adverse impact on deep-sea fishing.

According to Indian Express, Dr Pravakar Mishra, an expert in Coastal Process and Coastal Management Research at the National Center for Coastal Research (NCCR), said the bioluminescence phenomenon could be traced back to heavy rains and discharge of wastewater into the sea.

Explosion of phytoplankton can be caused by heavy rain and discharge of wastewater into the sea. Factors such as wind patterns and ocean temperature also determine the occurrence of bioluminescent waves, Mishra added.

Associate Professor Rebecca Case, a marine phytoplankton expert and principal investigator at the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, said that the phenomenon is a form of chemical reaction.

Dinoflagellates, a type of phytoplankton or tiny marine plants, are microscopic marine algae that drift with water currents. They produce an enzyme called luciferase, which reacts with oxygen to produce light.

READ MORE: World Environment Day: History, Significance, Theme and Celebrations

Where does blue glow appear?

“When we swim or splash in water (or a wave crashes), seawater is mixed with oxygen. It’s this increase in oxygen that causes the luminescence.”

This is also why it does not glow all the time.

Luminescent blooms are most commonly seen along the coastline at night and Assoc Prof Case said that she has seen them off Sydney in Australia — where she used to live — in Hawaii and Cape Cod in America and on Koh Tao in Thailand.

Is it safe to get near the blue waves?

Although harmful algal blooms or “red tide” are caused by dinoflagellates, bioluminescent dinoflagellates are rarely — if ever — toxic and there is “no need to be afraid”, Assoc Prof Case said.

It is safe for people to walk on the beach and swim in the water containing these organisms, she said.

“Swimming in a luminescent bloom is simply magical — watching the water light up as your body glides through the waves should be on everyone’s bucket list,” she added.

3. Frozen Bubbles

Photo NPR
Photo NPR

The phenomenon of bubbles frozen (Frozen Bubbles) appears under water in some lakes of stunning natural phenomena, but they may be dangerous, what are these bubbles?

What are frozen bubbles? And why is it dangerous?

The frozen bubbles are freezing capsules of highly flammable methane gas, and methane bubbles in frozen lakes are an amazing natural phenomenon, but they can be dangerous if they are burst, as methane can cause an explosion if exposed to a combustion spark, and methane bubbles are also dangerous On the climate and the environment, considering that methane is a greenhouse gas, and it is more dangerous than carbon dioxide, but where does methane come from?

How do frozen methane bubbles form?

Methane bubbles are produced in water bodies when the dead organic materials (plants and animals) fall into the water and sink to the bottom, and the bacteria that live there feed on them, and after they dissolve them out, methane gas comes out, which rises towards the surface in the form of bubbles, but it turns into white bubbles floating when It comes into contact with the frozen water and ice crystals.

Methane bubbles completely burst during the summer when they reach the surface, and methane is released into the atmosphere, but in winter, when the lake freezes, the ice traps the bubbles as they approach the surface .

Methane is produced in thousands of lakes across the Arctic, and as spectacular as the bubble scene may sound, it predicts future environmental problems, as as temperatures rise around the world, more permafrost is thawing, allowing frozen organic matter to thaw and save more. This increases the release of methane into the Earth's atmosphere, which is a worrying shift for climate scientists, given that methane increases heat warming more than carbon dioxide . Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and it is about 25 times more effective in trapping heat than carbon dioxide in trapping heat from carbon dioxide, and this increase in it leads to higher levels of global warming.

Where can you find frozen bubbles in the world?

Frozen methane bubbles can be seen in many lakes around the world, and here are some of these tourist destinations:

Lake Abraham is located in Alberta - Canada, 90 km southwest of Rocky Mountain House, and Abraham Lake is one of the most popular sites for tourists to see frozen methane bubbles. The frozen waters of Abraham Lake in winter are transparent, which gives Visitors and tourists are wonderful scenes of the frozen bubbles at the bottom of the lake, as the low temperatures in Abraham Lake and the winds that can reach about 48 km / hour, cause a surface of transparent ice to develop on the surface of the lake.

Lake Barriere is located in the west of Calgary Chananzquez (Calgary) , a man - made lake, and can take pictures of the wonderful scenes of bubbles frozen methane from there.

4. Blood glaciers

Photo The Times
Photo The Times

Snow turning pink seems a weird phenomenon.

The sang de glacier or glacier blood phenomenon, in which alpine snow turns pink in the spring, has been observed for centuries. Aristotle believed it to be the work of “red and hairy worms” under the snow.

So what does cause glacier blood? Also known as watermelon snow incidentally. Blooms of algae. They change colour to protect themselves from ultraviolet light.

Despite its rosy appearance, pink snow isn’t good news on the climate change front. Usually, ice reflects over 80 per cent of the sun’s radiation back into the atmosphere. As the ice changes colour, it loses the ability to reflect heat meaning the glaciers are starting to melt faster.

Why is pink snow bad?

Normally ice reflects more than 80% of the sun’s radiation back into the atmosphere, but as the algae appear, they darken the ice, causing it to absorb more heat and melt quicker. More algae appear as the ice melts because they are provided with vital water and air.

Interestingly, Di Mauro notes that the presence of tourists on the mountains could also have an impact on the algae.