Polar explorers show green summer in Antarctic: Spectacular shots of nature
Polar scientists showed a green summer in the Antarctic (photo: facebook.com/AntarcticCenter)
Only snow, ice, frost, and icicles are usually associated with Antarctica. But now it's summer there and everything has turned green. In particular, you can see the unique Antarctic vegetation, reports the National Antarctic Scientific Center.
Air temperature
Currently, the air temperature in the Antarctic fluctuates around 0℃. In particular, this summer the highest temperature reached +5℃ (January 3), and the lowest dropped to -1.2℃ (January 12).
Of course, under such conditions, the snow melts, and the Antarctic takes on a green color because the unique Antarctic vegetation emerges from under the white cover.
Unique Antarctic vegetation
Among the local flora are two types of vascular plants. They are Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort. Antarctic hair grass is a "relative" of oats, and Antarctic pearlwort belongs to the clove family.
In addition to them, there are also about 100 species of mosses and lichens in the Antarctic.
Ukrainian polar explorers are investigating how climate change affects Antarctic vegetation. For this, they keep records of bushes and their distribution.
In addition to climate change, penguins also help Antarctic plants to grow. After all, they generously "fertilize" rocks and narrow areas of soil, making them suitable for further landscaping.
Experts noted that scientists even use drones to map vegetation.
Polar scientists showed a green summer in the Antarctic (photos: facebook.com/AntarcticCenter)
