Surroundings|The consequences of climate change are turning Alaskan rivers orange, the change threatens the biota.
of the United States In Alaska, dozens of rivers and streams are turning rusty orange, says a new study Communications Earth & Environment – in the science journal.
The changing color is caused by minerals that end up in the water when the ground below the surface melts.
The research was informed by those who participated in it University of California, Davis Campus. There has been news about it, among other things The Guardian.
Permafrost melting exposes minerals to oxygen, which increases the oxygen content of the water and disintegrates metals such as zinc, copper and iron into the water.
The most visible metal is iron, which can be seen in water from satellite images. Researchers from the University of California, the US Geological Survey, and the National Park Service (NPS) traveled across northern Alaska documenting and sampling affected rivers.
In the end, 75 different objects ended up in the study.
“The more we flew around, the more we noticed more orange rivers and streams. Some places looked almost like milky orange juice,” NPS ecology researcher Jon O’Donnell says in the research announcement.
Aerial view of the Kutkuk River in Gates of The Arctic National Park, Alaska. The part colored by the metals is clearly different from the pure part.
Alaska located in an arctic region that is warming at four times the speed of the rest of the world.
The study highlights the risk that threatens the purity of drinking water and fish waters in the area. O’Donnell says orange rivers can be toxic and also prevent fish from migrating to spawning grounds.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Toxicology at the University of California interviewed by The Guardian by Brett Poulin According to
Phenomenon was first noted in 2018, when researchers noticed a pale orange color in the Brooks Range in northern Alaska.
The difference to the crystal clear waters of the previous year was remarkable. Within a year, two local fish species had completely disappeared from the tributary of the Akillik River.
“Based on our data, when the river turned orange, the benthic animals and microbial community at the bottom of the stream dwindled significantly, and they practically form the basis of the food web,” says Poulin, according to The Guardian.
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