S A V O I A

9 Surreal Natural Phenomena You Need to See to Believe

Posted by wildflowa on April 19, 2012 · 3 Comments 

1. Aurora: Also referred to as the Northern/Southern lights, aurora borealis and aurora australis are natural light displays in the sky. They occur normally in Arctic and Antarctic regions and are caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere.

2. Red Tide: Red tides (also known as algai bloom) occur when fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column and turn the surface of the water red. Red tides occur naturally off coasts all over the world.

3. Moonbow: A moonbow is a rainbow made through light reflected off the moon rather than the sun. They are always in the opposite part of the sky from the moon.

4. Cappuccino Coasts: A cappuccino coast is a very rare phenomena that occurs in the ocean. The thick foam appears when salt water interacts with the decomposition products of underwater living creatures. The powerful currents of the ocean churn the water to form bubbles that look like cappuccino foam.

5. Fire Rainbow: Fire rainbows are the rarest of all naturally occurring atmospheric phenomena. For a fire rainbow to occur, cirrus clouds must be 20,000 feet in the air with the precise amount of ice crystals, and the sun must hit the clouds at 58 degrees.

6. Mammatus Clouds: Mammantus clouds are usually associated with severe weather, but before the severe thunderstorms, the clouds appear to look like round, magical tufts.

7. Light Pillars: A light pillar is created by the reflection of light from ice crystals that lay horizontal. They can be light from the sun, moon, or even streetlights.

8. Fox Fire: Sometimes known as “fairy fire,” foxfire is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi in decaying wood.

9. Penitentes: Penitentes are amazing ice spikes and snow formations that resemble white-hooded monks. They can be found on mountain glaciers in high altitudes and vary in size and height.