Ecological responses to climate change on the Antarctic Peninsula

The peninsula is an icy world that is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth, threatening a rich but delicate biological community. The isolated biological community of the peninsula and its coastal waters evolved in a polar climate that remained relatively stable. The study focuses on three segments of the community, marine plankton, the small organisms that swim or drift near the sea surface, benthos, the community of bottom-dwelling plants and invertebrate animals, the penguins and other seabirds that dwell at the triple interface of land, air, and sea and all the factors under human control are contributing to global climate change.