Scientists studying moss in an area spanning 640 kilometres have found a sharp increase in growth over the past 50 years, said the report in the journal Current Biology.
“Temperature increases over roughly the past half century on the Antarctic Peninsula have had a dramatic effect on moss banks growing in the region,” said co-author Matt Amesbury, of the University of Exeter.
“If this continues, and with increasing amounts of ice-free land from continued glacier retreat, the Antarctic Peninsula will be a much greener place in the future.”
Five moss cores — or column-like samples drilled from the Earth — showed evidence of what scientists called “changepoints,” or points in time after which biological activity clearly increased.
Areas sampled included three Antarctic islands — Elephant Island, Ardley Island, and Green Island — where the deepest and oldest moss banks grow, said the report.
“This gives us a much clearer idea of the scale over which these changes are occurring,” said Amesbury.
“Previously, we had only identified such a response in a single location at the far south of the Antarctic Peninsula, but now we know that moss banks are responding to recent climate change across the whole of the Peninsula.”
http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/antarctica-is-green... Just thought I would bring this back to the front.
Forum
Pages: 
