Satellite images show that vegetation in Antarctica has increased more than tenfold over the past four decades and is turning green at a significant rate, scientists say in their latest study examining the southern Arctic.
the vehicle the In the USA today Based on a published study, he wrote that the widespread “greening” of the Antarctic Arctic is due to global warming. The study also revealed that over the past four decades, as shown by stunning satellite images, vegetation cover has increased more than tenfold.
Meanwhile, study co-author Thomas Rowland of the University of Exeter in the UK, noted that the landscape is still almost entirely dominated by snow, ice and rock, and only a small portion of it has been colonized by plants. . But he added that this “small percentage” has grown significantly. “This vast, isolated wilderness is being affected by human-caused climate change,” he noted, meaning that the hotter Antarctica gets, the greener it becomes.
Plant life can begin
According to the study, the Antarctic continent has witnessed a significant rise in temperatures over the past sixty years.
The rate of warming is highest in the regions of West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula and is occurring much faster than average global warming.
– confirmed the world.
Temperatures on the peninsula have risen by more than 3°C since 1950, a dramatic increase compared to other parts of the world, and extreme heat events are becoming more frequent in the region.
Study co-author Ollie Bartlett, from the University of Hertfordshire, noted that soils in Antarctica are often poor or lacking in nutrients, but when plant life begins, they add organic matter, facilitate soil formation and open up the soil. The path to other plants.
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