The Antarctic is becoming increasingly covered in plant life as the ice has been melting rapidly over recent years and scientists warn of the devastating effects of climate change.
Plant cover across the Antarctic Peninsula has expanded more than tenfold over the past few decades and green cover is 10 times larger than four decades ago, experts say.
New analysis of satellite data revealed that back in 1986, there was less than one square kilometer of vegetation on the peninsula. By 2021, that green cover had increased to nearly 12 square kilometers.
The researchers noted that this plant growth, primarily made up of mosses, has been speeding up since 2016.
This spread of vegetation on a continent traditionally dominated by ice and bare rock signals the impact of global warming reaching even into the Antarctic, where temperatures are rising faster than the global average.
Scientists caution that this increase in plant life could open the door for invasive species to enter and disrupt the pristine Antarctic ecosystem.
Similar greening has also been documented in the Arctic. In 2021, for the first time on record, rain—not snow—was observed falling on the summit of Greenland’s massive ice cap.
“The Antarctic landscape is still almost entirely dominated by snow, ice and rock, with only a tiny fraction colonised by plant life,” said Dr. Thomas Roland, from the University of Exeter, UK, and a co-leader of the study. “But that tiny fraction has grown dramatically – showing that even this vast and isolated wilderness is being affected by human-caused climate change.”
Roland emphasized that continued warming, which will persist until carbon emissions are reduced, could lead to “fundamental changes to the biology and landscape of this iconic and vulnerable region.”
The rapid increase in the spread of mosses from 2016 onwards coincides with a significant decline in sea ice extent around Antarctica.
Researchers believe that warmer, open seas could be creating wetter conditions, which are more favorable for plant growth. Mosses can establish themselves on bare rock and pave the way for the development of soils.
Combined with milder temperatures, this could create conditions suitable for other plants to take root.
In addition to mosses, green algae is now blooming across the melting snow surfaces of the peninsula. Remarkably, trees once grew at the South Pole a few million years ago, during a period when atmospheric CO2 levels were as high as they are today.