Heat wave in Antarctica causes flowers to spread

Due to rapid climate change, Antarctica is becoming less recognizable every year. On land, scientists are discovering more flowering plants, spreading like never before, and at sea, the volume of floating ice has reached a record low.

These dramatic changes coincided with rising summer temperatures. In 2022, researchers from the University of Washington recorded the largest heat wave ever to hit Antarctica.

In March, temperatures near the South Pole rose 39°C above normal for three days in a row, peaking at -10°C. It was the highest temperature anomaly recorded anywhere in the world, noted scientists Edward Blanchard-Wrigglesworth and Kashe Patel.

Some members of their team, who were working in Antarctica at the time and were accustomed to the harsh cold, even managed to wear shorts and walk in the sun without a shirt.

To find out how much of the recent heatwave was due to climate change, a team from the University of Washington

used "story approach". This modeling strategy relies on analysis of past events or likely futures to simulate current climate conditions.

As a result, scientists found that climate change has increased heat waves by 2°C over the past century, while how the equivalent wave in 2096 will be another 6°C warmer compared to 2022 and 8°C warmer compared to 1922

This future scenario could bring March temperatures in Antarctica dangerously close to the melting point, threatening the continent's vast sheets of ice.

Currently, Antarctica and its surrounding islands are covered with permanent snow and ice, and only about a percent of the land Suitable for flowering plants such as Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis).

However, over the past few decades, warmer springs and summers have led to a real flourishing of such plants. Their growth rate increased by 20 percent or more from 2009 to 2018.

Some models predict that by the end of the century the amount of ice-free land on the Antarctic Peninsula suitable for greenery will triple

Researchers fear that if vegetation continues to take over these areas, it will lead to "irreversible loss of biodiversity" in Antarctica.

Also, a milder climate will reduce the barrier to invasion of alien species of plants and animals. Therefore, it is now very important to understand the past and present habitats of Antarctica in order to try to preserve the continent as we know it. added researchers.