Why Snow in New Zealand’s Alps Turned an Alarming Shade of Red

Why Snow in New Zealand’s Alps Turned an Alarming Shade of Red

Several years ago, snow in New Zealand's Southern Alps turned red, and while many blamed wildfires at the time, new research uncovers the true culprit.

Why the Southern Alps Turned Red During the Summer of 2019-2020

Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors. Source: Geophysical Research Letters Sampling red snow on the Tasman Glacier in the Southern Alps following the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire/dust storm (Photo: J. Hunt 11/02/2020). Credit: Winton et al. [2024], Figure 1d New research reveals the source of the red dust that blanketed the New Zealand Southern Alps in the summer of 2019-2020 following the severe Australi…