Study Finds Arctic Tundra Turns Green, Spurred By Climate Change
January 25, 2022
Increasing temperature and higher soil moisture in the arctic region is setting the right condition and causing vegetation growth in the vast frozen plains, according to a new study.
The National Snow and Ice Data Centre, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, published the Arctic Report Card 2021, which highlighted how the Arctic plains are turning dangerously green caused by climate change. The study reveals that the Arctic, once a vast and white plain, is now altering in its state as increasing temperature is melting the frozen ice sheets. The Arctic region has increased in temperature by 3 degrees Celsius since the mid 1960s, which is more than twice the global average. Additionally, 2021 was the seventh warmest year on record. The autumn of 2020, October to December, was the warmest on record which dates back to 1900.
The adversely affected regions are Alaska, the Northern Coast of Canada, Siberia and the northernmost parts of Norway. The study explains that these regions may suffer dangerous aftermaths of climate change, mainly increasing river volume due to melting ice sheets. The Laptev Sea, off the coast of northern Siberia, had the lowest sea ice in April 2021. The loss of sea ice is clear and apparent as Greenland is also losing its ice quickly. In August 2021, for the first time in recorded history, the precipitation was in the form of rain, not snow, in the summit of Greenland. The melting sea ice also allowed fishing boats to travel further and norther. This, however, led to garbage pile up in the region.
Lastly, the altering weather pattern is also adversely impacting communities that are dependent on snow and ice in the region. Moreover, the ocean current may alter, due to melting ice, and may cause stagnant weather patterns across the world and affect crops.