Take A Look At Seasonal Fall Colors In New York From Outer Space

The foliage isn't the only thing changing color in New York State this fall.

NASA published an image from outer space early in fall depicting a seasonal color change in New York State. According to their Flickr account, the shorting daylight hours and cooling temperatures tripper changes in the Northern Hemisphere that are visible from space.

The image depicts Western New York, specifically Lake Ontario and the Finger Lake region. You can see the large body of water, Lake Ontario, is swirled with pale blues and greens. According to NASA's Flickr account, this is a sign of a spike in phytoplankton, which are microscopic plant-like organisms. However, with the temperatures remaining warmer than normal in September, this is color change is thought to be a "whiting event". These events happen in the late summer and are caused by changing in water temperatures that allow particles of calcium carbonate to form in the water. Increased phytoplankton activity can also cause these whiting events by limiting the amount of carbon dioxide in the water. Thus, lightening, or whiting, the water.

When viewed at a higher resolution, NASA's Flickr account reports that you can see a slight discoloration in some of the Finger Lakes. This is from the harmful algal blooms. These blooms were reported in multiple of the Figner Lakes, with high reports for Seneca and Owasco Lake.