For now, it remains almost entirely covered by snow, ice, and rock, with plant life growing on only a tiny fraction of the landscape, but that \u201ctiny fraction has grown dramatically\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
In one part of the peninsula, vegetation grew from less than one square kilometre (0.6 square mile) in 1986 to almost 12 square kilometres (7.5 square miles) by 2021.<\/p>\n
The pace of change has accelerated by more than 30% between 2016 and 2021 and the team said it showed anthropogenic climate change, or that caused by humans, which is a key contributing factor, \u201chas no limit in its reach\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dr Thomas Roland, from the University of Exeter, said \u201cthe scale of the greening trend we found shocked us\u201d.<\/p>\n
Even in the peninsula, a \u201cmost extreme, remote and isolated \u2018wilderness\u2019 region\u2026 the landscape is changing and these effects are visible from space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Calling for \u201cmeaningful action, co-operation and accountability\u201d, he said it was \u201ctime to stop playing politics with our planet\u2019s future\u201d.<\/p>\n
The study\u2019s findings, he added, raise \u201cserious concerns about the environmental future of the Antarctic Peninsula, and of the continent as a whole\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dr Olly Bartlett, from the University of Hertfordshire, said they were not surprised by the presence of the vegetation itself, but \u201cit is the rate at which that vegetation cover is expanding that has shocked us\u201d.<\/p>\n
Many of the plants they found, typically mosses, lichens, liverworts, and fungi can grow on bare rock surfaces and \u201chave been present for over 5,000 years\u201d.<\/p>\n
The research published in the journal Nature Geosciences, found that while the soil in Antarctica is almost non-existent, an increase in plant life will add organic matter and allow soil to form.<\/p>\n
This could potentially pave the way for other plants to grow, they said.<\/p>\n
He warned the \u201cdramatic increase in vegetation will further develop and create new soils across the region, providing a medium in which non-native, and potentially invasive species can become established\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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