Ice bugs discovered again in Antarctic ice layers
New Zealand scientists on May 21 discovered a new type of microscopic bug in the ice layers of Antarctica.
This ice bug was first discovered in 1960, and is evidence of the effects of climate change, as temperatures warm.
Scientists examine ice inside a snow pit in Antarctica.
(Source: dailyclimate.org)
Researchers at the University of Waikato in New Zealand say the rediscovery of the tiny white springtail, which is just 1 millimeter long, is significant. The fragile creature is evidence of the impact of climate change on the frozen continent.
Warming temperatures have given ancient ice-dwelling creatures a chance to "revive."
Researcher Kristi Bennett has identified two species of bugs and is working to find all the springtail residents in the ice, in order to figure out how to conserve them.
"We can use genetics to determine how long ago the two springtails survived," says Bennett. "This could provide clues as to what happened to the ecological landscape here."
Previously, Professor Casey Hubert of Newcastle University (UK) and colleagues analyzed a bacterial population in sediment samples at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.
Scientists have predicted that bacteria will become much more flexible when the temperature increases to 20 degrees Celsius (equivalent to 68 degrees Fahrenheit)./.
According to (Vietnam+) - VT
