Recent rapid climate changes in Antarctic and their influence on low diversity ecosystems

The geographic position, astronomic factors (e.g. the Earth’s maximum distance from the Sun during winter), ice cover and altitude are the main factors affecting the climate of the Antarctic, which is the coldest place on Earth. Parts of Antarctica are facing the most rapid rates of anthropogenic climate change currently seen on the planet. Climate changes are occurring throughout Antarctica, affecting three major groups of environmental variables of considerable biological signifi cance: temperature, water, UV-B radiation. Low diversity ecosystems are expected to be more vulnerable to global changes than high diversity ecosystems