This glacier in the Alps turned pink with 'watermelon snow'—here's what a scientist says is happening - CNBC

"There was quite an impressive bloom of snow algae," Di Mauro, of the Institute of Polar Sciences at Italy's National Research Council, told CNN about his visit to the Presena glacier.

And though the effect may be beautiful to look at, "it is for sure bad for the glacier," Di Mauro told CNN, as darker snow absorbs more heat and therefore melts faster. .

While Di Mauro is still testing the pink snow, he believes the algae responsible is a snow algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis.