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Antarctica was once a tropical paradise
Sunday August 05, 2012 10:07:32 AM,
IANS
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London: The chilly
continent of Antarctica was once a tropical paradise where palm
trees swayed on the green shores, a study has found.
Around 50 million years ago, temperatures in Antarctica soared
above 20 degrees Celsius, the Daily Express reported.
To collect proof of the continent's tropical heritage, scientists
undertook an expedition and drilled a kilometre into the ocean
floor to collect samples of fossilised pollen that have lain
undisturbed for millions of years.
Between 48 and 55 million years ago, high levels of greenhouse gas
in the atmosphere forced up temperatures.
James Bendle, from the University of Glasgow, said the samples
were the first detailed evidence of what was happening on the
Antarctic.
He said it was a strange contrast to discover the continent's
balmy past amidst "a backdrop of freezing temperatures, huge ocean
swells, calving glaciers, snow-covered mountains and icebergs".
"It's amazing to imagine a time-traveller, arriving at the same
coastline in the early Eocene, could paddle in pleasantly warm
waters lapping at a lush forest," Bendle said.
Pollen found in the sediment cores showed two past environments --
one being a lowland, warm rainforest, dominated by tree-ferns,
palms and trees, and the other an upland, mountain forest region
with beech trees and conifers.
Pollen from both regions would have been washed, blown or
transported by insects onto the shallow coastal shelf where it
would have settled in the mud and have been preserved for 50
million years.
However, Bendle said the new knowledge of past "greenhouse"
conditions will enhance guesses about the effects of increasing
CO2 levels today.
It could provide a glimpse of what could be in store for the world
in centuries to come if global warming continues unchecked.
The biggest threat lies in the fact that Antarctica today is
covered with ice which could potentially raise global sea-levels
by 60 metres if the continent once again reached Eocene
temperatures, leading to "devastating effects all over the world".
If temperatures in Antarctica ever became as warm again, sea
levels could rise 60 metres, swamping major coastal cities such as
New York, Sydney and Hong Kong, the study said.
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