Biologist and polar researcher Bernard Stonehouse works out of Cambridge when he's not giving talks on wildlife and environment on  cruise ships sailing in Antarctic waters. He tells Narayani Ganesh that Antarctica is probably the most unspoiled continent on Earth, despite its growing popularity among tourists:

Is the Antarctic showing signs of vulnerability to climate change?

Parts of Antarctica, particularly the peninsular area, could be experiencing some effects of global warming. However, not all parts of Antarctica would be impacted. While some places are warming, there are other places where there is cooling. Probably the evidence of warming would be the fact that ice shelves are breaking away more than they did before, changing the outline of the continent and ships can get into corners they were unable to get into before. The spell might last a few years and then disappear; we cannot say because we have records dating back to maybe a hundred years only.

The evidence present in ice cores does suggest that there have been wide changes in temperatures. So while in the peninsular region there has been increase in daily temperatures, this has not been the case in the plateaus. I expect temperatures in Antarctica to be more resistant to warming effects than those of tropical regions because there is so much accumulated cold here. The Antarctic is much colder than the Arctic, for instance. So the Antarctic is not the first place to look for evidence of global warming.

What do you think of climate change naysayers?

Well, it is easy to frighten people, especially when alarmist stories are widely reported in the media. The other thing is that scientists who are desperate for research funds might find that generating fear is a good way to generate funds for further research in these areas. I would say that even if there is no definite evidence of accelerating climate change, it is beneficial to be cautious and take care of the environment. I have no evidence of the impact of climate change on species, of whether plant growth is increasing or penguins are moving to other areas.

In the 60 years i've worked in the Antarctic, i have found that some stocks of penguin have disappeared from particular places, only to increase in numbers elsewhere. The USA's Palmer science station found that sea ice is declining and sea ice is the nursery for krill, the creatures that the Adelie penguins and other sea animals feed on. The depletion in krill numbers in some areas might force penguins and other animals to migrate to other areas.

What kind of research is being carried out here?

Some research stations in the Antarctic are studying biology: others are examining atmospheric pollution, radio transmissions in the ionosphere, ice cores from deep-drilling to learn of temperatures in the past. Biologists are finding out how plants and animals survive in cold and arid conditions. Plants grow close on the rock surfaces nearest to the South Pole moss, algae, lichen, for example. Tiny algae live under crystals of rocks, photosynthesising. Fungi and mites thrive on the remains of dead plants. 

(Times of India, 19/02/2009)