The Antarctic Sea Has Warmed... Increase in Marine Mammals Over 30 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] A study has revealed that the Antarctic sea has warmed due to the effects of global warming. An investigation into the distribution of seaweed showed significant differences in seaweed communities compared to 30 years ago. Notably, among Antarctic seaweed, species that inhabit relatively warmer waters have noticeably increased, indicating a rise in the temperature of the Antarctic sea. The Korea Polar Research Institute announced on the 24th that these research findings were published in the international scientific journal Scientific Reports.

The research team, led by Chief Researcher Choi Hangoo of the Korea Polar Research Institute and Professor Kim Jungha of Sungkyunkwan University, surveyed seaweed at five sites along the Maxwell Bay coast of King George Island, where the Sejong Station is located, between 2016 and 2018, and compared the distribution with that from 30 years ago.

The results showed that the number of seaweed species remained relatively unchanged, from 25 species in 1988 to 27 species 30 years later. However, the similarity between seaweed communities was only 48.2%, indicating a significant difference. A community refers to a group of organisms gathered at a specific place and time. Similarity measures how closely the species distribution between two groups resembles each other.

In particular, among Antarctic seaweed, the large-leafed Desmarestia decreased while the Desmarestia species increased. Desmarestia species tend to inhabit relatively warmer waters compared to large-leafed Desmarestia.

The research team plans to conduct further studies, considering that the seaweed ecosystem may be disturbed not only by water temperature but also by substances flowing in from melting surrounding glaciers and nutrients released from habitats of polar animals such as penguins.

Dr. Ko Youngwook, the first author of the paper, stated, "We plan to carry out long-term monitoring to continuously understand the impact of global warming on the Antarctic marine ecosystem."

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