Antarctica: It’s scary to know that the icy continent of Antarctica is turning green at an alarming rate due to global warming.
According to satellite data, the green cover of Antarctica was almost 12 square kilometre in 2021, whereas in 1986 it was less than 1 sq km!
Researchers found that the spread of plants, mostly mosses, has increased since 2016.
The accelerated growth of green cover on a continent dominated by ice and bare rock shows that Antarctica is warming faster than the global average.
Scientists have also warned that this condition can provide a foothold for alien invasive species in the continent.
“The Antarctic 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 human-caused climate change,” said University of Exeter, UK’s Dr Thomas Roland, who co-led the study.
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