""What do you think would look better: pink or green?" The bubblegum hue won. A scientist from the Swiss public university ETH Zurich nodded, pulling out a bottle of pink dye to release from the top of the Rhone Glacier in the Swiss Alps. Turning the rivulet flowing down a melting glacier into a bright-pink stream was the least scientific test carried out this day."
"As the team took turns leaping over one, I was reminded of the packing list we were emailed before the trip which included "Ice pick (Eispickel) in case of a slip into a crevasse." Fortunately, none of us had to use our Eispickel on this particular day. But we did use our cameras after the team poured the bottle of pink solution into a glacial stream temporarily turning it into an even more unnatural display than the quickly vanishing glacier itself."
Scientists from ETH Zurich poured pink dye into a rivulet on the Rhone Glacier to visualize and measure glacial runoff. Field measurements showed water flowing off the glacier faster than ever, accompanied by a 360-degree soundscape of running water. Team members trekked cautiously across ice, testing each step to avoid dozens of large crevasses. A pre-trip packing list warned of an ice pick for slips into crevasses, though it was unnecessary that day. Researchers photographed the temporary pink stream, creating an artificial visual aid that contrasted with the rapidly vanishing glacier.
Read at www.npr.org
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