Scientists are now reporting on the "greening" of Antarctica. And that's NOT a good thing...
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As Antarctica is mostly covered in ice and snow, there previously hasn't been much space left for plants to grow. There are no trees or shrubs, and the plants that do exist are limited to a few islands and along the western Antarctic Peninsula.

However, as global temperatures continue to rise and ice in Antarctica continues to melt, researchers have found that plants on the continent are growing more quickly.

Comparing the results with surveys from the previous 50 years, they found that the sites had not only become more densely populated by the plants, but that they had also grown faster each year as the climate got warmer.

The results were staggering, with the Antarctic hair grass growing as much in 2009-2019 as it had in the entire 50 years from 1960 from 2009.

The Antarctic pearlwort moved even faster, growing five times more in the same periods.

Peter Convey, at the British Antarctic Survey, touched on the impact of accelerated growth as he told New Scientist: “The most novel feature of this is not the idea that something is growing faster. It’s that we think we’re starting to see what is almost like a step change or a tipping point.”
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You and I no longer live in the natural world into which we were born. It's already very different, and the pace of change is accelerating.

FULL ARTICLE -- https://www.unilad.com/news/world-news/antarctica-flowers-spread-climate-change-828134-20230922

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Antarctica

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