Antarctica: The tiny change that could tip the balance at the end of the world

A slight warming of just one degree Celsius could disrupt the life cycles of Antarctic marine species, scientists warn from the Rothera research station on the Falkland Islands. Over the past three decades, British Antarctic Survey divers have sampled the same seabed sites, noting that starfish with up to 40 arms grow slowly and take hundreds of days to reproduce. The team, led by Professor Lloyd Peck, argues that warmer temperatures may trigger earlier larval hatching when winter food is scarce, jeopardising survival. The report also highlights a surge in humpback whales—30‑40 individuals now recorded around Rothera—an encouraging sign of recovery after a 40‑year whaling ban. Yet the rapid regional warming, past records show, challenges the thousands‑year‑old, low‑temperature adaptations of polar fauna.