Global climate change has accelerated the pace of glacial retreat in high latitude and high-elevation environments, exposing lands that have been devoid of vegetation for centuries or millennia, said Steve Schmidt of the University of Colorado at Boulder, department of ecology and evolutionary biology. He likened the high Andes to the harsh Dry Valleys of Antarctica, under study by researchers from NASA's Astrobiology Institute because of hostile conditions believed to be similar to those on portions of Mars.The University of Colorado at Boulder team working at 16,400 feet in the Peruvian Andes discovered how barren soils uncovered by retreating glacier ice can swiftly establish a thriving community of microbes, setting the table for lichens, mosses and alpine plants, said . The study offers new insights into how microorganisms are adapting to global warming (myth) in cold ecosystems on Earth. (Source: Daily Galaxy)
