Weather.com - 1/28/13, Becky Oskin, Our Amazing Planet
Antarctic Ice Waves. From our partners.Though they appear to be frozen ocean waves, these blue ice towers in Antarctica are created when ice compresses, forcing trapped air bubbles out. When sunlight passes through this thick frozen ice, blue light waves are visible but the red light is absorbed. (Photo credit: Tony Travouillon)
During the Arctic spring and summer, ponds of freshwater appear on the melting ice, dotting the landscape with a dazzling range of blues.
Despite their beauty, these melt ponds are a harbinger of climate change in the Arctic, according to a new study by researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany. The pools form more easily on young ice, and young ice now accounts for more than 50 percent of the Arctic sea ice cover. The ponds also absorb more of the sun's heat, helping ice melt faster, the study finds.
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