Although Antarctica is now covered by ice and snow, life was very different during past warm climates 100 million years ago – Antarctica was green.

Fossil plants (leaves, wood, pollen, seeds and flowers) preserved in rocks from Antarctica show that the land was once covered in lush green forests that flourished in warmer climates, even though the continent was over the South Pole. Dinosaurs lived in t he forests, now preserved as fossils.

Over millions of years the climate of the Earth cooled and ice developed on Antarctica. The land is now covered by ice sheets up to 4km thick but the ice sheets are now melting as our climate warms due to human activity. As the ice melts, sea levels are rising across the planet, impacting millions of people and cities on coastlines.

Plant fossils can tell us about warm climates of Antarctica in the past and provide us with a window into life at the poles in our future warm world.