Climate: a warming of a degree can upset the ecosystem of antarctica

AFP

AFP

Thursday, 31 August, 2017 15:11

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Thursday, 31 August, 2017 15:13

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WASHINGTON, dc | climate change threatens to upset the ecosystem of the seabed, fragile, Antarctica, the increase of only one degree Celsius that is sufficient to change deeply some species, according to a study published Thursday.

It is based on experiments that replicated the actual conditions of rising temperatures on the ocean environment, carried out during the nine-month around the research base british Rothera, on the island Adelaide the antarctic peninsula.

According to the findings published in the us scientific journal Current Biology, an additional degree of water sometimes has more than doubled the population of certain species.

“I was quite surprised,” says Gail Ashton, of the British Antarctic Survey.

“I didn’t expect the difference would be so important in the animal communities of the Antarctic, with a rise of only a degree”, she adds, noting that in the temperate climates of the variances over temperature will not lead to such effects.

With the help of electrical panels, scientists have heated a thin layer of water of one and two degrees above the ambient temperature, which corresponds to the warming expected in the course of the next fifty and hundred years respectively.

With an additional degree, the population of bryozoans (Fenestrulina rugula), animal-foam-living on the seabed, has exploded.

At the point to dominate completely the surrounding ecosystem, which has resulted in a reduction of all other organizations within two months.

Marine worms, Romanchella perrieri, have also seen their size increase of 70% on average, compared to those who remained at room temperature.

The reaction of the different agencies with an increase of two degrees has been much more variable, observed the researchers, noting that this could depend on their age and the seasons.

The species generally experience a more rapid growth when Antarctica warms up in the summer.

But effects have also been observed in march, when the amount of food available and the ambient temperature decreases.

This experience suggests that climate change may have a more significant impact than previously thought on the marine ecosystems in the high arctic.

Predict the evolution of organisms and animal species with climate change remains a major challenge, according to the scientists, who point out that some will benefit while others will suffer.

They plan to replicate this experience in particular in the Arctic where the global warming has already had significant effects.