Slight global warming is Greening the Antarctic Peninsula with new life

antarcticAmy Goodrich – Climate alarmists such as Al Gore have long claimed that climate change is man-made and likely will destroy the world if we don’t curb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Since these statements are based on calculations from computer models, there is no actual evidence that CO2 will harm all life on Earth in any way.

In fact, higher CO2 levels and temperatures are turning the world into a lusher, greener place bursting with new life, according to a team of scientists from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. The new study, published in the journal Current Biology, found that over the past 50 years increases in temperature have boosted the growth of moss and microbes in Antarctica.

Since the 1950s, annual temperatures in Antarctica have risen by about half a degree Celsius each decade, which is much faster than the global average. Through the study of core samples taken from 150-year-old moss banks, the researchers were able to get a clear picture of how rising temperatures have affected the ecology of the Peninsula.

Previous research already showed how plants and microbes growing at the southern end of the Antarctic Peninsula underwent unprecedented ecological changes over time. Now, these researchers confirmed that the changes are happening all over the Peninsula. For their follow-up study, the team analyzed five extra samples from three sites, including three Antarctic islands (Elephant Island, Ardley Island, and Green Island). Those different sites house some of the oldest moss banks over a 600-kilometer transect along the Peninsula. Continue reading