Context: Plant cover across the Antarctic Peninsula, a long, mountainous extension of Antarctica that points north towards South America, has increased more than 10 times over the past few decades due to rising temperatures, a new study says.
Extent of Antarctica warming
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body that advances scientific knowledge about climate change, has estimated that the Earth as a whole is warming at the rate of 0.14-0.18 degrees Celsius per decade whereas the Antarctica is warming at 0.22 degrees Celsius and 0.32 degrees Celsius per decade currently.
- The situation in the Antarctic Peninsula is worse than in the rest of Antarctica—it is warming five times faster than the global average. On average, the Antarctic Peninsula is now almost 3 degrees Celsius warmer than in 1950.
- In July this year, ground temperatures in parts of the continent were around 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal, and up to 28 degrees higher on certain days.
Findings of the study
- Researchers used satellite imagery and data to conclude that the extent of vegetation in the Antarctic Peninsula has increased 14 times in just 35 years.
Worrying green cover
- Soil in Antarctica is primarily poor or nonexistent, but this increase in plant life will add organic matter, and facilitate soil formation. This raises the risk of non-native and invasive species arriving, possibly carried by eco-tourists, scientists or other visitors to the continent
- Increase in plant life could also reduce the Antarctic Peninsula’s ability to reflect sunlight (solar energy) back to Space — a darker surface absorbs more solar radiation. This could further increase ground temperatures, with local and global repercussions.
- Rising temperatures will exacerbate the loss of ice and raise global sea levels.