A Colorado State University researcher is among a group of scientists who say Antarctica faces a grim future unless work is done soon to reverse problems brought on by humans.
“This is an environment undergoing rapid changes from the isolated landscape we once knew,” said Diana Wall, a University Distinguished Professor at CSU and director of the university’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability.
Wall co-authored a Policy Forum article July 13 with international colleagues published in Science.
They pointed to several short-term threats to Antarctica including climate change impacts on marine systems and marine resource use, ocean acidification, invasive alien species, pollution, habitat alteration and regulatory challenges within the Antarctic Treat system.
Long-term threats include the spread of ocean acidification and further damage to marine organisms,
Wall has spent 22 season in Antarctic Dry Valleys examining the response to soil biodiversity and ecosystem processes to environmental change. In 2005, Wall Valley in Antarctica was named for her achievements.
Wall suspects that human activity in and around Antarctica will only grow. Tourism and scientific exploration may also mean that some day, the continent could be home to permanent human settlement.
This may not bode well for Antarctica’s fragile environment, Wall said.
“We are seeing an urgency of issues that are converging on Antarctica and they are affecting species and ecosystems much faster than we thought,” she said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or
