And while small amounts of the green snow have been visible for years, it's starting to spread across the continent because of climate change.

Using satellite data and fieldwork observations, a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey have created the first large-scale map of the green algae and predicted the future spread of the bizarre snow. .

Although the individual algae are microscopic, when they grow at scale, the green snow can even be seen from space. .

The team found that the distribution of green snow algae is strongly influenced by marine birds and mammals, because their excrement works extremely well as fertilizer.

As the planet warms and more of Antarctica's snow melts, the algae will spread, the scientists said.

And while some algae will be lost to areas that lose snow altogether, much more will be gained.

"As Antarctica warms, we predict the overall mass of snow algae will increase, as the spread to higher ground will significantly outweigh the loss of small island patches of algae," said co-lead author Dr.

The amount of algae found by the team creates a carbon sink that absorbs about 500 tons of carbon each year, the equivalent of about 875,000 average car journeys in the U.K., researchers said