Event 117

Argentine Islands
The populations of two native Antarctic flowering plants increased rapidly between 1964 and 1990, coincident with the strong regional warming over the Antarctic Peninsula. The Antarctic pearlwort population increased 5-fold while the Antarctic hairgrass increased 25-fold. The unusually rapid increases are attributed to warmer summer temperatures and/or a longer growing season, which enhance the plant�s ability to reproduce.

Photo: Pearlwort and Hairgrass.

Event 10: Heat wave. Event 20: Frogs spawning early. Event 21: Birds laying eggs early. Event 22: Early leafing of trees. Event 28: Butterfly range shift. Event 31: Alpine meadow changes. Event 32: Penguin decline. Event 33: Sea bird decline. Event 35: Shoreline sea life shifting. Event 36: Disappearing toads. Event 65: Retreating Glaciers. Event 68: Permafrost thawing. Event 69: Snow-cover decrease. Event 70: Warming of Antarctica. Event 109: Decrease in hibernation. Event 117: Antarctic plants change. Event 137: Thinning of ice sheet.

Gary Braasch, who documents climate change through photography, provided us with these photographs. Many more examples of his work can be found on his web site, World View of Global Warming, http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org.