The July-August 2008 edition of American Scientist carries an article very relevant to International Polar Year: Ecological Responses to Climate
Change on the Antarctic Peninsula, by James McClintock, Hugh Ducklow and William Fraser.

"The peninsula is an icy world that’s warming faster than anywhere else
on Earth, threatening a rich but delicate biological community," it begins, and it proceeds to survey the different ways in which climate change is affecting the flora and fauna of the region. You can read the entire article as an downloadable PDF file.