Antarctica on the brink of disaster: the mainland is melting and covered with flowers

Flowering plants in Antarctica are growing rapidly, indicating the ongoing effects of global warming on the continent

Antarctica is rapidly growing green, but it’s bad / Photo: Wikipedia, Pixabay

The findings suggest that the planet may have reached a breaking point in this fragile, remote ecosystem.

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The new study focused on two flowering plants native to Antarctica, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitnsis.

The researchers measured the growth and distribution of these plants on a small subantarctic island called Signy Island from 2009 to 2019.

Both plants grew faster each year as temperatures rose, which the team attributes to warmer summer air. It is also associated with a decrease in the population of fur seals trampling plants.

Between 1960 and 2011, air temperatures increased by 0.02 degrees Celsius each year, but after a four-year cold snap it began to grow at a rate of 0.25 degrees per year.

While all of this may be good news for the plants, it won’t be good for the region as a whole – it’s a very finely balanced environment, and Antarctica is under serious threat.

We previously wrote:

Source: Segodnya

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