[gtranslate]
News

Blink and you’ll miss it: rolling green hills show just how quickly Antarctica is melting

Sometimes beauty comes at a price. Recent studies of the Antarctic continent have revealed some seriously beautiful changes, but as the result of pretty devastating melting from global warming.

Do not be fooled, although stunning in its own right, these rolling green hills are what we could come to expect when we reference Antarctica from now on. That’s right, the ice is melting at an alarming rate and is leaving behind the mossy undergrowth of the landmass beneath.

antarctica melting happy
Photo: ABC

Still think the ice caps aren’t melting? Recent photos from Antarctica reveal a changed landscape and a haunting new beauty.

This plant growth has been being steadily tracked over the past 50 years and reveal an unprecedented surge in new life along a 600 kilometre stretch of the Antarctica’s coastline. It can now be said that Antarctica is the one of the most rapidly warming places on earth.

As reported by the leader of the study paleoclimatologist Dr. Matthew Amesbury, “We can’t measure temperature or any other aspect of climate directly in these moss banks, but we can measure things that respond to temperature”.

antarctica melting happy
Photo: ABC

In essence what the study has found is that, as these moss species respond to temperature increases and are growing in number, as the continent warms, the moss will continue to grow. This runs alongside other changes including, glacier retreat and greater exposure of ice-free land.

It’s really sad but also fascinating, but could the future of Antarctica be not ice but a fertile lush green-scape? This then calls into question the fate of the animals that live there, penguins, seals, sea lions and other bird species, which rely on the cold climate and ice for survival.

It’s an issue we should follow closely, it’s happening so fast; if you blink you might miss it.

Via ABC.