Seems like a good thing? Am I missing something? I know that extremophiles will have a hard time adapting as their habitats become more livable, but on the whole it seems like a win for planet earth.
I think the concerning subtext would be if Antarctica is turning from ice to green, what changes will we see in the current green areas we enjoy, and what will that mean to as far as livable regions on earth?
I'm not sure if it's because here in North America summer has ended and the days are starting to get shorter, or maybe there's something hardwired in people to hear that vegetation is flourishing and think of it as a good thing but viscerally I had the same reaction.
Intellectually I can understand that the reason for this growth is the earth is warming causing the ice caps to melt and the ramifications for this are worse than however good seeing a bit of moss makes me feel, not to mention, as is addressed at the end of the article, the potential for invasive species to wind up overtaking what I assume must be an extremely niche biome and oh God we are completely screwed.
In the interim it could be quite disruptive for humans (flooding, extreme heat in once livable places, etc.) but on the whole warming has typically been very good for life.
Based on other mass extinctions, we can expect ten+ million years of very low life diversity during this extinction that we're causing. So, for a period much longer than humans have been around (which you describe as "the interim"), we will experience only the dying. No human will experience any eventual recovery of biosphere diversity which may occur, long after we are gone.
The green area of Antarctica according to the graph in this link is 12 km². The area of Antarctica is 14,200,000 km², i.e. 0.0008% is green. Seems like a noise data point.
Seems like a good thing? Am I missing something? I know that extremophiles will have a hard time adapting as their habitats become more livable, but on the whole it seems like a win for planet earth.
I think the concerning subtext would be if Antarctica is turning from ice to green, what changes will we see in the current green areas we enjoy, and what will that mean to as far as livable regions on earth?
I'm not sure if it's because here in North America summer has ended and the days are starting to get shorter, or maybe there's something hardwired in people to hear that vegetation is flourishing and think of it as a good thing but viscerally I had the same reaction.
Intellectually I can understand that the reason for this growth is the earth is warming causing the ice caps to melt and the ramifications for this are worse than however good seeing a bit of moss makes me feel, not to mention, as is addressed at the end of the article, the potential for invasive species to wind up overtaking what I assume must be an extremely niche biome and oh God we are completely screwed.
Still: moss. Nice. I like it.
Edit: typo
In the interim it could be quite disruptive for humans (flooding, extreme heat in once livable places, etc.) but on the whole warming has typically been very good for life.
Global cooling would be catastrophic.
Based on other mass extinctions, we can expect ten+ million years of very low life diversity during this extinction that we're causing. So, for a period much longer than humans have been around (which you describe as "the interim"), we will experience only the dying. No human will experience any eventual recovery of biosphere diversity which may occur, long after we are gone.
I was in that area back in 2008 and it looked the same. Entire islands covered with green moss.
The green area of Antarctica according to the graph in this link is 12 km². The area of Antarctica is 14,200,000 km², i.e. 0.0008% is green. Seems like a noise data point.
I wonder which is better for lowering global temperatures, reflective ice or the new vegetation?