Parts of Antarctica are turning green more quickly than previously thought, leaving scientists “shocked” at the impact of climate change in the region.
The area covered with plants in Antarctica Peninsula A British research team said that the size of planet Earth is ten times larger than it was four decades ago.
This means the 800-mile (1,300 km) area in the northern part of the continent could become vulnerable to invasive species as a result.
Green Island on the Antarctic Peninsula. Image: University of Exeter/PA
Using satellite data, researchers from the Universities of Exeter and Hertfordshire and the British Antarctic Survey studied the extent to which the region is “greening” in response to climate change. Climate change.
Currently, it remains almost entirely covered in snow, ice, and rocks, with plant life growing on only a small portion of the landscape, but that “tiny portion has grown exponentially.”
In one part of the peninsula, vegetation has grown from less than 1 square kilometer (0.6 sq mi) in 1986 to nearly 12 sq km (7.5 sq mi) by 2021.
The pace of change accelerated by more than 30% between 2016 and 2021, and the team said it showed that human-induced or anthropogenic climate change, a major contributing factor, “has no limits in scope.”
“The scale of the greening trend we found shocked us,” said Dr Thomas Rowland, from the University of Exeter.
Norcel Point on Amsler Island in the Palmer Archipelago in Antarctica. Pic: University of Exeter/PA Wire
He added that even on the peninsula, which is “a more extreme, remote and isolated wilderness area… the landscape is changing and these effects are visible from space.”
He called for “meaningful action, cooperation and accountability,” and said that “it is time to stop being political about the future of our planet.”
He added that the study’s results raise “serious concerns about the environmental future of the Antarctic Peninsula and the continent as a whole.”
Dr Ollie Bartlett, from the University of Hertfordshire, said they were not surprised by the presence of the vegetation itself, but “it is the rate at which the vegetation is expanding that has shocked us”.
Many of the plants they found, such as mosses, lichens, liverworts and fungi, can grow on bare rock surfaces and “have been around for more than 5,000 years.”
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The research, published in the journal Nature Geosciences, found that although soil in Antarctica is almost non-existent, an increase in plant life would add organic matter and allow soil to form.
This could pave the way for other plants to grow, they said.
“The significant increase in vegetation will lead to the development and creation of new soils throughout the region, providing an environment in which non-native and potentially invasive species can settle,” he warned.
