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Some of New Zealand's famed glaciers have turned red due to the bushfires raging across the east coast of Australia.
Travel photographer and blogger Liz Carlson snapped the pictures of the discoloured snow-capped glaciers on November 28 while on a helicopter flight around Mount Aspiring National Park, in New Zealand's South Island.
"After we flew deep into the park around the Kitchener Glacier, I could really see how red it was, and it was shocking, I've never seen anything like it before," Ms Carlson told CNN.
Travel photographer and blogger Liz Carlson took the pictures of the pink and red glaciers during a helicopter flight. (Liz Carlson)
"Often at the end of summer the glaciers can appear dirty, even gray with all of the snowmelt and bits of black rock on them, but this was the height of spring so it was really bizarre. The ice was coated in a way that gave it a pinkish-red tinge."
Westerly winds blew smoke from the Australian fires toward New Zealand.
The heavier particles in the smoke fall out and, in this case, discolored the snow in New Zealand, according to CNN meteorologist Monica Garrett.
Until the material on the glaciers is tested, it is not possible to know for sure what material it is, Ms Garrett said.
A glacier turning red in Mount Aspiring National Park. (Liz Carlson)
Given the conditions of the past few months, it is safe to assume that it is from the Australia fires, she added.
Australia has been experiencing one of its worst bushfire seasons on record. As of 5:30 am on Saturday there were 94 bush and grass fires burning across NSW, with 11 at a Watch and Act level.
Satellite pictures on Wednesday show smoke from the fires in eastern New South Wales crossing the Tasman Sea and the North Island of New Zealand. New South Wales and Mount
Aspiring National Park are more than 1,000 miles apart.
The smoke and dust from the fires also turned the skies red and orange in New Zealand.
Ms Carlson, who lives in Wanaka, said she was saddened by the sight of the red glaciers.
"The wildfires in Australia are immense and unprecedented (and) are definitely exacerbated by climate change," she said.
"On top of that I know that our poor struggling glaciers don't need this. They're already melting too fast and... this coating of red dust on them means they won't be able to reflect light off them and will melt all the faster. It's deeply upsetting."
Travel photographer and blogger Liz Carlson took the pictures of the pink and red glaciers during a helicopter flight. (Liz Carlson)
While it's too early to say exactly how the particles will affect the glaciers photographed by Ms Carlson, scientists have found that forest fires in the Amazon have caused glaciers in the
Andes mountains to melt faster, with pollutants such as black carbon and dust lodged in the ice, reducing the glacier's ability to reflect sunlight.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Monday that spring 2019 was the country's driest on record.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/n...ushfires/4940bba9-091d-4811-916e-12185ae90c56
Travel photographer and blogger Liz Carlson snapped the pictures of the discoloured snow-capped glaciers on November 28 while on a helicopter flight around Mount Aspiring National Park, in New Zealand's South Island.
"After we flew deep into the park around the Kitchener Glacier, I could really see how red it was, and it was shocking, I've never seen anything like it before," Ms Carlson told CNN.
Travel photographer and blogger Liz Carlson took the pictures of the pink and red glaciers during a helicopter flight. (Liz Carlson)
"Often at the end of summer the glaciers can appear dirty, even gray with all of the snowmelt and bits of black rock on them, but this was the height of spring so it was really bizarre. The ice was coated in a way that gave it a pinkish-red tinge."
Westerly winds blew smoke from the Australian fires toward New Zealand.
The heavier particles in the smoke fall out and, in this case, discolored the snow in New Zealand, according to CNN meteorologist Monica Garrett.
Until the material on the glaciers is tested, it is not possible to know for sure what material it is, Ms Garrett said.
A glacier turning red in Mount Aspiring National Park. (Liz Carlson)
Given the conditions of the past few months, it is safe to assume that it is from the Australia fires, she added.
Australia has been experiencing one of its worst bushfire seasons on record. As of 5:30 am on Saturday there were 94 bush and grass fires burning across NSW, with 11 at a Watch and Act level.
Satellite pictures on Wednesday show smoke from the fires in eastern New South Wales crossing the Tasman Sea and the North Island of New Zealand. New South Wales and Mount
Aspiring National Park are more than 1,000 miles apart.
The smoke and dust from the fires also turned the skies red and orange in New Zealand.
Ms Carlson, who lives in Wanaka, said she was saddened by the sight of the red glaciers.
"The wildfires in Australia are immense and unprecedented (and) are definitely exacerbated by climate change," she said.
"On top of that I know that our poor struggling glaciers don't need this. They're already melting too fast and... this coating of red dust on them means they won't be able to reflect light off them and will melt all the faster. It's deeply upsetting."
Travel photographer and blogger Liz Carlson took the pictures of the pink and red glaciers during a helicopter flight. (Liz Carlson)
While it's too early to say exactly how the particles will affect the glaciers photographed by Ms Carlson, scientists have found that forest fires in the Amazon have caused glaciers in the
Andes mountains to melt faster, with pollutants such as black carbon and dust lodged in the ice, reducing the glacier's ability to reflect sunlight.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Monday that spring 2019 was the country's driest on record.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/n...ushfires/4940bba9-091d-4811-916e-12185ae90c56
