Plant cover across the Antarctic Peninsula has soared more than tenfold in the past few decades as the climate crisis heats up the icy continent.
Analysis of satellite data shows that in 1986, there was less than 1 square kilometer of vegetation, but by 2021, the area of green space has increased to almost 12 square kilometers. Researchers found that the spread of plants, mainly moss, has accelerated since 2016.
Plant growth on a continent dominated by ice and bare rock shows that global warming is reaching Antarctica, where it is warming faster than the global average. Scientists warned that the outbreak could provide a foothold for alien invasive species to enter pristine Antarctic ecosystems.
Greening has also been reported in the Arctic, with rain instead of snow falling on top of Greenland’s giant ice sheet in 2021 for the first time on record.
Green Island in Antarctica. Photo: Matt Amesbury
“Antarctica’s landscape is still almost entirely occupied by snow, ice and rock, with only small areas covered by plants,” said Dr. Thomas Rowland of the University of Exeter, UK, who co-led the study. said. “However, a small portion of it has increased dramatically, showing that even this vast and isolated wilderness is being affected by anthropogenic climate change.”The total area of the peninsula is approximately 500,000 square kilometers. .
Rowland warned that future heating, which continues until carbon emissions stop, could result in “fundamental changes to the biology and landscape of this iconic and fragile region.” The study was published in the journal Nature Geoscience and was based on analysis of Landsat images.
Professor Andrew Shepherd from Northumbria University in the UK, who was not part of the research team, said: “This is a very interesting study and is consistent with what I found when I visited Larsen Bay (on the peninsula) a few years ago. We landed on the shore, which was buried under it until we discovered that there was green algae growing in the river.”
“This site was hidden from the atmosphere for thousands of years, but plants took hold within a few decades after the ice disappeared. This is truly amazing,” he said. “This is both a barometer of climate change and a tipping point for a region where life has started to gain a foothold there.”
The acceleration of moss spread since 2016 coincides with the beginning of a significant decline in sea ice extent around Antarctica. Researchers said the warming of the open ocean may be creating wetter conditions that favor plant growth. Mosses can colonize bare rocks and, combined with mild conditions, create a soil base that allows other plants to grow.
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Dr Olly Bartlett, from the University of Hertfordshire and co-lead of the new study, said: ‘Most Antarctic soils are poor or non-existent, but this increase in plant life is adding organic matter and improving soil formation. It will be encouraged.” This increases the risk of introducing exotic and non-native species that may be carried by ecotourists, scientists, and other visitors to the continent. ”
A 2017 study showed increased moss growth rates, but did not assess covered areas. Another study in 2022 showed that two flowering plants native to Antarctica have spread to Signy Island, north of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Green algae is also blooming on the surface of the snowmelt water on the peninsula. Millions of years ago, when there was as much carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere as there is today, trees grew in Antarctica.
