At a Glance

Europe's mountaintops are greening, and it's because of climate change, a new study concluded.The number of plant specieshas increased by five times more than during the period 1957-66.Someexisting species that have been growing at these heights for centuries may not be able to compete with the newer plant species.

Mountaintops across Europe are blooming with wildflowers wherebrutally cold conditions once kept them from growing, and that's not good news.

A study says blooming wildflowers and other plants growing at higher altitudesthan normal are "unequivocally linked to global warming."

The team of international researchers studied302 peaks across Europe and found that over the past 10 years, the more than during the period 1957-66, according to a press release.

(MORE:)

This mountaintop greening coincides with theacceleration of global warming since the mid-20th century, the researchers said.

"This acceleration is strikingly synchronized with accelerated global warming,” the study said. "We found that plant species richness has increased strongly over the past 145 years on the vast majority of Europe’s summits and that the increase has accelerated in the most recent years."

The authors notesomeexisting species that have been growing at these heights for centuries may not be able to compete with the newer plant speciescreeping upmountainsides in tandem with the warming planet. These more ancient species will more than likely disappear in the long run, the researchers said.

"They have nowhere else to go, and they can't develop rapidly enough to be able to compete with the new arrivals, which are taller and more competitive under warmer climates," lead author ManuelSteinbauer said in the press release.