Can marine species in Antarctica survive long-term temperature rises?
The Antarctic Peninsula is warming faster than anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere — temperatures have increased by 3°C in the last 50 years, and the surface waters are rising in temperature too. The critical question is “Will the marine animals there acclimatise to the unprecedented changes?”. Carefully controlled experiments show that Antarctic marine animals can survive short term increases in temperature (days) but cannot acclimate to longer term increases (months or years). Smaller individuals (juveniles) and more active species, usually predators, cope better with the changes. The effects of temperature change are complex, affecting not only survival rates, but also reproductive capacity and food webs. These are important findings that allow insight into how the biodiversity of the marine Antarctic environment will evolve as the Earth warms.
