Study shows Antarctic Peninsula is going green

New research based on satellite observations shows an acceleration in the Antarctic Peninsula “greening” over the last four decades. According to a study supported by the British Antarctic Survey, vegetation cover on the peninsula rose from less than one square kilometre in 1986 to nearly 12 square kilometres in 2021. More worryingly, between 2016 and 2021 researchers observed an acceleration of this trend, with more than 400,000m2 going “green” annually. “Even this vast and isolated ‘wilderness’ is being affected by anthropogenic climate change,” says Thomas Roland, an environmental scientist from the University of Exeter who authored the study. Meanwhile, satellite images released by Nasa show temporary pockets of green vegetation in parts of the Sahara after last month saw heavy rainfall in the region. More than 1,000 people were killed by floods in Central and West Africa this summer.