Antarctica is “greening” at a significant rate as the climate warms Antarctica

Vegetation cover across the Antarctic Peninsula has risen more than tenfold over the past few decades, as the climate crisis heats the icy continent.

An analysis of satellite data found that there was less than a square kilometer of vegetation in 1986, but there was nearly 12 square kilometers of green cover by 2021. The researchers found that the spread of plants, mostly mosses, has accelerated since 2016. .

The growth of vegetation on a continent dominated by ice and bare rock is a sign that global warming is reaching the Antarctic region, which is warming faster than the global average. Scientists have warned that this spread could provide a foothold for alien invasive species in the pristine Antarctic ecosystem.

Greening has also been reported In the North PoleIn 2021, rain, not snow, fell on top of Greenland’s massive ice sheet for the first time ever.

“Almost the entire Antarctic landscape is still dominated by snow, ice and rocks, with only a small portion colonized by plant life,” said Dr. Thomas Rowland, from the University of Exeter, UK, who co-led the study. “But this tiny fraction has increased dramatically – showing that even this vast and isolated wilderness is being affected by human-caused climate change.” The peninsula has an area of ​​about 500,000 square kilometers.

Rowland warned that future heating, which will continue until carbon emissions cease, could bring about “fundamental changes to the biology and landscape of this distinctive and vulnerable region.” The study is Published in the Journal of Natural Earth Sciences Based on analysis of Landsat images.

“This is a very interesting study and is consistent with what I found when I visited Larsen Inlet,” said Professor Andrew Shepherd, from Northumbria University in the UK, who is not part of the study team. [on the peninsula] A few years ago. We landed on a beach that had been buried under the Larsen Ice Shelf until the shelf collapsed in 1986-88. We found that it now has a river with green algae growing in it!”

“This place has been hidden from the atmosphere for thousands of years, and plants have colonized it within a couple of decades after it became ice-free — it’s really amazing,” he said. “It is a measure of climate change but also a turning point for the region as life now has a foothold there.”

The acceleration of algal blooms since 2016 coincides with the beginning of a noticeable decline in the area of ​​sea ice around Antarctica. The researchers said warmer open seas may lead to wetter conditions that help plants grow. Algae can colonize bare rock and create a soil foundation that, combined with mild conditions, can allow other plants to grow.

Dr Ollie Bartlett, from the University of Hertfordshire and co-lead of the new study, said: “Soils in Antarctica are often poor or non-existent, but this increase in plant life will add organic matter, facilitating soil formation. This increases the risk of non-native and invasive species arriving.” , which may be carried by eco-tourists, scientists or other visitors to the continent.

A 2017 study showed that the rate of algae growth was increasing, but did not evaluate the area covered. Another study, in 2022, showed that the two flowering plants native to Antarctica were spreading on Signy Island, north of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Green algae also flourish on the surface of the peninsula’s melting snow. Trees were growing in Antarctica a few million years ago, when the planet had the same amount of carbon dioxide₂ In the atmosphere as it is today.