No, it’s not photoshopped or edited and it’s not Mars either. The photo is from eastern Europe (Earth). Last weekend, many people saw orange snow falling from the sky and soon blanketed the whole landscape. The view was fresh and pretty. Instagram is now bombarded with pictures of people skiing on orange snow. One even posted jokingly “Apocalypse Now!!”
No need to worry it’s not the end of the world, just a natural phenomenon that happens every few years. The ‘orange’ that appears on the snow is nothing but sand, dust, and pollen from Sahara desert. The Saharan dust kicked into the air and swept north due to a massive sandstorm. The strong winds and thunderstorms caused by a polar jet stream made the dust whip. So, the sand gets mixed up in the atmosphere containing snow and it causes the snow turning orange. It’s not clear whether the dust blended with the snow in the air or on the ground.
In the regions of Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, and Moldova, the orange mountains are heaven for photographers and Instagrammers. But these snowy landscapes are not easy to ski on.
The orange streak was also visible in a satellite image taken by NASA. The dust was visible on the clouds drifting across the Mediterranean. The dust spreads when in the atmosphere.
This phenomenon is nothing new though. It happens in every five years. But this time the amount of dust that got carried of was massive and a thing to wonder!
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