What if the South Pole were to become a green continent?

Let’s assume that overnight, inexplicably, the South Pole becomes a rainforest.

The South Pole is about twice the size of Australia. If it were a rainforest, it could consume a lot of the carbon dioxide in the air and produce a lot of oxygen. And since rainforests are home to half of all biodiversity on earth, there would be far more plants and species that could lead to new foods or medicines.

Earth would become warmer in the Southern Hemisphere, because the ice of the South Pole used to reflect sunlight, while the continent is now absorbing it. This could accelerate climate change if the amount of oxygen produced by the forest is not enough to compensate.

However, ice’s loss will almost certainly have a heavy impact on species on other continents. Ocean currents would change, and with them the way heat is distributed on earth, turning deserts into forests and vice versa.

It should be noted that climate change is already truly turning Antarctica into a green continent. An unusual growth of moss on its surface is currently taking place. It is therefore likely that if not a rainforest, Antarctica could soon turn into a tundra.