In a development that reflects the significant and continued effects of climate change, researchers from two British universities have released evidence of alarming levels of plant growth across the Antarctic Peninsula.

Using satellite imagery, scientists from the University of Exeter and the University of Hertfordshire worked in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey to study changes in Antarctic vegetation cover over the past 40 years.

Their results, recently published in Nature Geosciences, showed that in 1986 there was a total of less than one square kilometer of vegetation across the Antarctic Peninsula. However, by 2021, this had increased to almost 12 square kilometers.

While this sounds like quite slow growth, it is the trend of change that is most alarming. While growth was fairly slow across much of the study period, the ‘greening’ really sped up in the most recent years of the study (from 2016 to 2021). In this five year period, the greening accelerated by over 30%.

Why is this changing now?

Well the answer to this lies in climate change and the significant impact it is having in even the coldest places on earth. In fact, the impact here is much greater than you might expect: polar regions, including the Antarctic, are suffering frequent extreme heat events and, in comparison to the rest of the planet, are warming at a much faster rate.

This significant and continuous increase in temperatures encourages the growth of plant species. Until recently, these species would have struggled to survive in the Antarctic, as Dr Thomas Roland from the University of Exeter explained in a statement:

“The plants we find on the Antarctic Peninsula – mostly mosses – grow in perhaps the harshest conditions on Earth. The landscape is still almost entirely dominated by snow, ice and rock, with only a tiny fraction colonised by plant life.

But that tiny fraction has grown dramatically – showing that even this vast and isolated ‘wilderness’ is being affected by anthropogenic climate change.”

But why is an increase in mosses in Antarctic important?

Now that this growth has started, it will only continue to increase. This is because of the changes in the ecosystem that mosses and other plants encourage.

The greener the Antarctic is, the more unstable and vulnerable the landscape will be, as the University of Hertfordshire’s Dr Olly Bartlett describes in the statement:

“As these ecosystems become more established – and the climate continues to warm – it’s likely that the extent of greening will increase.

Soil in Antarctica is mostly poor or non-existent, but this increase in plant life will add organic matter, and facilitate soil formation – potentially paving the way for other plants to grow.

This raises the risk of non-native and invasive species arriving, possibly carried by eco-tourists, scientists or other visitors to the continent.”

The increase in plant growth also suggests the destabilisation of the ice that was once a solid fixture of the region. The warmer the Antarctic becomes – and thus the greener it becomes – the greater the likelihood of increased melting.

As one of the climatic tipping points that could spell disaster for our planet, increased greening (suggesting increased melting) could be a sign of worse things to come.

Thus, as Dr Roland explains, further research and measures to protect our environment are vital, with a timely response urgently required:

“The sensitivity of the Antarctic Peninsula’s vegetation to climate change is now clear and, under future anthropogenic warming, we could see fundamental changes to the biology and landscape of this iconic and vulnerable region.

Our findings raise serious concerns about the environmental future of the Antarctic Peninsula, and of the continent as a whole. In order to protect Antarctica, we must understand these changes and identify precisely what is causing them.”

Let’s hope that the emergence of this research is the wake up call that our planet needs.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?