中文导读 南极半岛沿岸的积雪有时会变绿或变红。一项新研究指出，企鹅粪便（鸟粪）是关键线索之一：鸟类把富含磷酸盐的养分带到雪面，滋养雪藻，使积雪颜色加深并吸收更多阳光，从而加快融化。西华盛顿大学 Elise Ryan 与科罗拉多大学博尔德分校 Alia Khan 团队在 2024–2025 南极夏季采集半岛九个沿岸站点共 111 份雪样；绿色雪中磷酸盐中位数约 114 μM，约为红色雪的十倍、洁净雪的七十倍。红雪比洁净白雪约多吸收 20% 太阳能，绿雪约多 40%。The Guardian 2026-11-04 报道；论文见《Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences》（DOI 10.1029/2026JG009918）。阅读时可留意 absorb、fertilizer、bloom、projection 等词，以及 may、yet 如何保留研究边界。
正文 Along the West Antarctic Peninsula , patches of snow can turn green or red . A new study says penguin droppings help explain why . When birds leave guano on coastal snowfields , they fertilize tiny algae that darken the snow and absorb more sunlight . The work appears in the Journal of Geophysical Research : Biogeosciences . The Guardian reported the findings on 4 November 2026, following an American Geophysical Union research brief
本段译文 沿西南极半岛，积雪有时会变成绿色或红色。一项新研究称，企鹅粪便有助于解释原因。当鸟类把鸟粪留在沿岸雪原上时，它们为使积雪变暗、吸收更多阳光的微小藻类提供了养分。该研究发表于《Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences》。The Guardian 于 2026 年 11 月 4 日报道了这些发现，此前美国地球物理联合会（AGU）也发布了研究简报。
Snow algae are microscopic plants that live in cold snow . When nutrients are scarce , the cells make red pigments that act like sunscreen and slow growth . When nutrients are abundant , the algae pack their cells with green chlorophyll and grow quickly . Red snow absorbs about 20 percent more solar energy than clean white snow . Green snow absorbs about 40 percent more . That extra heat speeds melting near the coast
本段译文 雪藻是生活在寒冷积雪中的微观植物。当养分稀缺时，细胞会产生类似防晒霜的红色色素并放缓生长。当养分充足时，藻类会在细胞内积累绿色叶绿素并快速生长。红雪比洁净的白雪大约多吸收 20% 的太阳能；绿雪大约多吸收 40%。多余的热量会加快沿岸融化。
Lead author Elise Ryan of Western Washington University and senior author Alia Khan of the University of Colorado Boulder studied the link . The team crossed the Drake Passage by boat and collected 111 snow samples at nine coastal sites during the 2024 to 2025 Antarctic summer . They sampled places with and without penguin colonies across five degrees of latitude . In the laboratory , they counted algae cells and measured pigments and dissolved nutrients .
本段译文 西华盛顿大学的第一作者 Elise Ryan 与科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的通讯/资深作者 Alia Khan 研究了这一联系。团队乘船穿越德雷克海峡，在 2024 至 2025 年南极夏季于九个沿岸站点采集了 111 份雪样，覆盖有无企鹅群落、跨五个纬度的地点。在实验室中，他们计数藻细胞，并测量色素与溶解态养分。
Green snow stood out . Its median phosphate level was about 114 micromoles per liter , ten times the level in red snow and roughly seventy times the level in clean snow . Phosphate is a key nutrient in guano . Samples with more wildlife influence also had more phosphate . After penguins and seabirds such as skuas feed at sea , they carry marine nutrients onto land . Guano then acts as a fertilizer that fuels dense green blooms
本段译文 绿色雪尤为突出。其磷酸盐中位数约为每升 114 微摩尔，约为红雪的十倍，约为洁净雪的七十倍。磷酸盐是鸟粪中的关键养分。受野生动物影响更大的样本磷酸盐也更高。企鹅与贼鸥等海鸟在海上觅食后，会把海洋养分带到陆地。鸟粪随后像肥料一样，催生浓密的绿色藻华。
The pattern matters for climate projections . As Antarctica warms , snow algae habitats are expanding along coasts , and some penguin populations are shifting farther south . Guano-fed green blooms could therefore darken snow over a wider area . Yet most melting models still omit this biological effect . Khan argues that without it , scientists may underestimate how fast coastal snowpacks melt and how quickly ice-free land spreads
本段译文 这一模式对气候预估很重要。随着南极变暖，沿岸雪藻栖息地正在扩展，部分企鹅种群也在向更南移动。因此，由鸟粪滋养的绿色藻华可能在更大范围内使积雪变暗。然而，多数融化模型仍未纳入这一生物效应。Khan 认为，若不加以考虑，科学家可能低估沿岸雪盖融化的速度，以及无冰陆地扩展的快慢。
The study links the marine food web to snow ecology , but it has clear limits . It describes nutrient and pigment patterns from one field season on the peninsula . It does not measure how many extra centimeters of melt guano causes each year , nor does it prove that every green patch will expand under future warming . More data are needed before models can include the effect with confidence . Still , the chemistry of penguin waste now belongs in the story of Antarctic snow .
本段译文 该研究把海洋食物网与雪生态联系起来，但也有明确局限。它描述的是半岛上一个野外季节的养分与色素格局，并未测量鸟粪每年额外造成多少厘米融雪，也不能证明在未来变暖下每一片绿斑都会扩大。要把该效应有把握地写入模型，还需要更多数据。尽管如此，企鹅排泄物的化学作用，如今已属于南极积雪故事的一部分。
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