Plant cover on the Antarctic Peninsula has increased more than tenfold in recent decades as the climate crisis intensifies, warming the icy continent.
Satellite data analysis revealed that in 1986, there was less than one square kilometer of vegetation, but by 2021, the green cover had expanded to nearly 12 km². Researchers noted that this spread, primarily consisting of mosses, has accelerated since 2016.
The expansion of plant life on a continent mostly covered in ice and bare rock highlights the far-reaching effects of global warming in Antarctica, where temperatures are rising faster than the global average. Scientists warned that this greening could create opportunities for invasive alien species to infiltrate Antarctica’s fragile ecosystem.
Similar greening trends have been observed in the Arctic, and in 2021, for the first time in recorded history, rain, rather than snow, fell on Greenland’s massive ice cap.
“The Antarctic landscape is still almost entirely dominated by snow, ice and rock, with only a tiny fraction colonised by plant life,” said Dr. Thomas Roland of the University of Exeter, UK, and co-lead of the study. “But that tiny fraction has grown dramatically – showing that even this vast and isolated wilderness is being affected by human-caused climate change.”
The Antarctic Peninsula spans about 500,000 km².
Roland cautioned that ongoing warming, which will persist until carbon emissions are reduced, could lead to “fundamental changes to the biology and landscape of this iconic and vulnerable region”. The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, is based on Landsat image analysis.
The rapid expansion of mosses since 2016 coincides with a sharp decline in sea ice around Antarctica. Warmer, open seas may be creating wetter conditions conducive to plant growth. Mosses, which can colonize bare rock and help form soil, along with milder conditions, could enable other plants to thrive in the future, the researchers noted.
Dr. Olly Bartlett from the University of Hertfordshire, and co-leader of the study, noted: “Soil in Antarctica is mostly poor or nonexistent, but this increase in plant life will add organic matter, and facilitate soil formation. This raises the risk of non-native and invasive species arriving, possibly carried by eco-tourists, scientists or other visitors to the continent.”
A 2017 study found that moss growth rates were accelerating but did not measure the area covered. Another study in 2022 revealed that Antarctica's two native flowering plants were also spreading on Signy Island, located north of the Antarctic Peninsula.
In addition, green algae are blooming across the melting snow on the peninsula. A few million years ago, when atmospheric CO2 levels were similar to today's, trees were growing at the South Pole.
