CBC Radio's Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald explains the science behind the pink fog that dazzled residents of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley early in the morning Jan. 31.
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00:03 Well, the pink fog in Kelowna is related to the phrase,
00:06 red skies at night, sailors delight.
00:09 Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning.
00:12 The phenomenon is when sunlight passes through a lot of material that's in
00:17 the air, whether it's dust or it's moisture.
00:20 Now, sunlight is made up of all colors of the rainbow, but
00:24 the shorter wavelengths, the blues and the greens, they get scattered more easily.
00:28 That's why we have blue skies.
00:30 But red light, which is a longer wavelength, penetrates dust better.
00:34 So that's what we're seeing.
00:35 The blues and greens are getting scattered, the red is making it through.
00:39 Let me show you how it works.
00:40 I've got a light here, and I have a glass with just a little bit of milk in it.
00:45 I just put a few drops of milk in it.
00:47 And you'll notice over here, the milk looks, well, like milk, it's kind of blue.
00:51 But if I hold it in front of the light, you'll see it turns kind of yellowish.
00:55 The milk is absorbing the blue and the green and letting the red come through,
00:59 and that's what gives it the yellow color.
01:01 Same phenomenon.
01:02 It only lasts for a few minutes, but when you do see it, it's just beautiful.
01:05 >> Good news, bad news.
01:08 Firstly, any moment with Bob McDonald is a fantastic moment, so
01:11 thank you for that, Bob.
01:12 But also, apparently, the redder the sky, sometimes the dirtier the sky,
01:17 we don't know what was going on there, but dreamy but potentially dirty.
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