Alarming Greenary

India started shining not only in sports but also in research especially in Antarctica! Yeah, Indian scientists have discovered a new plant species in Antarctica. This is the first time a plant species has been discovered in the 4 decades of the Indian Antarctic mission. A polar biologist, Prof Felix Bast stumbled at a species of moss in 2017 in the ice-covered continent And It took 5 years to confirm that it has been discovered for the first time.

The biologist based in Central University of Punjab, has named the species as Bryum bharatiensis ,bharathi is one of India's Antarctic research stations .

We all know that plants need sunlight, water and essential minerals for growth and only 1% of Antarctica is ice free. “The biggest question was how does the moss survive in a landscape of rock and ice”. The scientist also found that moss grows on penguin poop as it is rich in nitrogen, but the manure doesn’t decompose in this climate. Then, you may ask what about the sunlight? In Antarctica the temperature is dropping as low as -76C with no sunlight for six winter months, this confuses scientists even more.

A scientist worried that, “Antarctica is getting greenified” as many temperate species of plants that could not survive in these frozen continents are now seen in antarctica. This indicates the warming of the continent and it is essential to concentrate on the environment!

Credits: Shree Varshini

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