Hairgrass - 1 Of 2 Antarctic Plant Species - Has Spread Rapidly In Past 50 Yrs In Northern Areas

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Dr Paul Hill, of Bangor University scientist, said areas of Antarctica are becoming greener.

“We think of the Antarctic as a land of snow and ice. But, in summer on the Antarctic Peninsula, and the islands surrounding the frozen centre of the continent, the snow melts and many areas become green with mosses and two species of native flowering plant. Recently, as global temperatures have increased, and Antarctic summers have become longer and warmer, one of these flowering plants, Antarctic Hairgrass has become increasingly widespread.”

The study, published in Nature, found that the hairgrass is able to take advantage of the nitrogen produced when soil warms up and decomposes.

This super efficient process, that enables the hairgrass to grow over the brief Antarctic summer, could help to develop new fertilisers to help plants grow as the world runs out of industrial nitrogen produced with oil.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8413806/Antarctica-going-green-due-to-climate-change.html