While red and pink are the most common colors, different types of snow algae produce a rainbow of hues, including orange, yellow and green.

The algae’s striking appearance on snow has earned it nicknames ranging from the delicious-sounding — watermelon snow — to the ominous — glacier blood.

A strange pink algae that grows on snow and ice is melting glaciers, making them more prone to soak up the heat from the sun.

Because this form of snow algae is tcpink to red, it absorbs sunlight- and when positioned on a glacier, can make it melt more quickly.

Russian scientists discovered a high concentration of blood-red snow in the Altai Mountains, likely caused by algae, and warn that the algae will cause ice to melt faster.

Have you seen photos floating around on social media showing red or pink snow in our Utah mountains or witnessed it yourself?

Pink, red, purple, and green algae blooms are growing on glaciers all over the planet. Scientists who study snow and ice algae fear the blooms are a symptom of climate change. Algae blooms can ...

Rouge-colored ribbons of algae ran 400 square feet across the sunny slope — Chlamydomonas nivalis, a red-pigmented green algae found in high alpine and polar regions around the globe.

KODNER: So when the algae cells are growing in the snow, they produce a red-colored pigment that turns the snow pink, or if the algae are in really high numbers, they can turn the snow red.

A) Green snow, B) Red snow, C) Snow algae (members of the green algae), which are the main cause of green snow, and D) Parasitic chytrid infecting snow algae. Parasitic chytrids causes host death.

People in Utah have been seeing snow on the ground tinged with a red and pinkish hue. It’s certainly pretty to look at, but what’s behind the natural phenomenon that’s nicknamed ...

In the Arctic, the pigmented snow algae can decrease the snow albedo by 13% in just one snow season, according to a study published in Nature in 2016 that looked at 40 red snow sites in 16 areas.