The Brazilian institute MapBiomas released, this Monday (1st), a survey that shows ice-free areas and those covered by vegetation during the winter months Antarctic summer.
O mapping revealed that ice-free areas occupy 2.4 million hectaresless than 1% of the total area of Antarcticawhich is 1.366 billion hectares. From these ice-free areas, approximately 5% are covered by vegetation, totaling just over 107 thousand hectares.
On this same day, in 1959, the Antarctic Treaty continent as an international and scientific research area, with the participation of 58 countries. Brazil joined the agreement only in 1975, establishing a base in 1984.
Vegetation in Antarctica develops in ice-free areas that occur mainly on islands, the coastal region and the Antarctic Peninsulabut they can also be identified at the top of the mountain ranges in the interior of the continent.
Mapping ice-free and vegetation-covered areas is crucial for monitoring the impacts of climate change on the Antarctic environment.
The project coordinator explains that the map of ice-free areas is important for monitoring Antarctic fauna, The vegetation map is essential to assess the productivity of ecosystems, which allows monitoring environmental changes and sensitive regions.
“Following the natural dynamics of the Antarctic continent is also justified by its direct influence on the climate of the southern hemisphere, acting as a global thermal regulator and being the birthplace of cold fronts, which also influence rainfall in the south of planet Earth”, adds the scientist.
*Under the supervision of Thiago Félix
