Flowers spreading in Antarctica – which experts say is not a good thing

Shea Woodrow 15th February 2022

Stony landscapes dotted with yellow flowers are not what many people picture when they imagine Antarctica. But a new study has found thanks to warming temperatures, colourful blooms are becoming an increasingly common sight on one Antarctic island.

In a new Italian study, published in scientific journal Current Biology on Tuesday, researchers noticed a “striking” expansion in the population of two flowering Antarctic plants, which they say is the first evidence of climate change speeding up ecosystem shifts on the icy continent.

Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort can both be found on Signy Island – a mostly ice-covered landmass just off the Antarctic Peninsula – and are the only two flowering plants native to the Antarctic region.

The new study found from 2009 to 2018, the number of sites where pearlwort could be found on the island increased 154 per cent, while the amount of hair grass spots climbed 28 per cent.

Not only were there more of the plants, but their range was expanding into the island’s typically colder upper-reaches.

If global temperature averages increase two more degrees, it is predicted Antarctica’s Western Ice Sheet will reach its tipping point (file photo). — *If global temperature averages increase two more degrees, it is predicted Antarctica’s Western Ice Sheet will reach its tipping point (*GETTY IMAGES*).*

Researchers theorised climate change was one of the main factors driving the shift.

Average summer air temperatures for Signy Island had increased 1.2 degrees Celsius from 1960 to 2011, before a “cold pulse” in 2012.

Summer temperatures had crept up again since, 0.9 C over the next seven years, and simulated experiments found both plants thrived in the warmth.

But the warmer temperatures were a double-edged sword, as they made it more likely plant and insect invaders could survive.

“Such climate warming may benefit some and possibly many native Antarctic terrestrial species and communities in isolation, but will also lead to increased risks from non-native species establishment.

“These may outcompete native species and trigger irreversible biodiversity loss and changes to these fragile and unique ecosystems.”

The Antarctic Peninsula region was expected to keep warming over the rest of the century, the study concluded.

“If this follows the ‘worst case’ business as usual scenario … Earth’s climate by as soon as 2030 could resemble warmer periods such as those recorded during the mid-Pliocene.”

Victoria University of Wellington climate scientist James Renwick said that could spell disaster for the Antarctic.

Climate change scientist James Renwick says more flowers in Antarctica isn’t as good as it sounds (file photo). — *Climate change scientist James Renwick says more flowers in Antarctica isn’t as good as it sounds (*ROSS GIBLIN*).*

“On the face of it, it could seem good, having more flowers – but it’s not a good thing.”

The warming climate posed a big risk to Antarctica’s biodiversity, he said.

“Life goes slow when it’s cold … the plants and animals that have lived there for a long time, they find it very hard to adapt to rapid change, [and] it’s changing very quickly.”

CLIMATE CHANGE WILL TURN COASTAL ANTARCTICA GREEN

Scientists have created the first ever large-scale map of microscopic algae as they bloomed across the surface of snow along the Antarctic Peninsula coast. Results indicate that this ‘green snow’is likely to spread as global temperatures increase.

ANTARCTICA: INVASIVE SPECIES ‘HITCHHIKING’ ON SHIPS

Species from around the world that are “hitching a lift” on ships threaten Antarctica’s pristine marine ecosystem.

Warming temperatures posed a bigger threat in the Antarctic, Renwick said, one which could have dire consequences for the rest of the world.

“We know if we let global warming get to two degrees [Celsius], we’re likely locking in the melting of the Western Ice Sheet – we’d be committing the world to four more metres of water.

“We just couldn’t stop sea level rise – it’d completely displace hundreds of thousands of people … huge amounts of land would be lost … people’s homes, land we rely on for agriculture.”

It would take hundreds of years for the ice sheet to melt in full, Renwick said, but climate change would wreak havoc in the meantime, increasing the intensity of floods and droughts across the globe.

“It’s the collapse of civilization – I can’t overstate this.”

Source:

Amber Allott at Stuff New Zealand