Tundra News

November 20, 2024

Top Headlines

In Greening Arctic, Caribou and Muskoxen Play Key Role

Nov. 12, 2024 — A new study highlights the importance of caribou and muskoxen to the greening Arctic tundra, linking grazing with plant phenology and abundance in the Arctic ...

Planting Trees in the Arctic Could Make Global Warming Worse, Not Better, Say Scientists

Nov. 7, 2024 — Tree planting has been widely touted as a cost-effective way of reducing global warming, due to trees' ability to store large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere. But, an international group of ...

Groundbreaking Study Provides New Evidence of When Earth Was Slushy

Nov. 5, 2024 — At the end of the last global ice age, the deep-frozen Earth reached a built-in limit of climate change and thawed into a slushy planet. Results provide the first direct geochemical evidence of the slushy planet -- otherwise known as the ...

Melting Arctic Sea-Ice Could Affect Global Ocean Circulation

Oct. 27, 2024 — The warming climate in polar regions may significantly disrupt ocean circulation patterns, a new study indicates. Scientists discovered that in the distant past, growing inflows of freshwater from melting Arctic sea-ice into the Nordic Seas likely ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:23pm EST

Slowing Ocean Current Could Ease Arctic Warming -- A Little

Oct. 25, 2024 — The Arctic is warming at three to four times the global average. However, new research suggests the slowing of a key ocean current could reduce projected Arctic warming by up to 2 degrees Celsius by ...

Polar Bears' Exposure to Pathogens Is Increasing as Their Environment Changes

Oct. 23, 2024 — As the Arctic warms, polar bears now face a greater risk of contracting several pathogens than bears three decades ago, according to a new ...

Paws of Polar Bears Sustaining Ice-Related Injuries in a Warming Arctic

Oct. 22, 2024 — Polar bears in some parts of the high Arctic are developing ice buildup and related injuries to their feet. The changes appear to be an unexpected consequence of climate change, related to changing ...

Rapidly Increasing Industrial Activities in Arctic

Oct. 21, 2024 — More than 800,000 km2 of the Arctic were affected by human activity in 2013, according to an analysis of satellite-derived data on artificial light at night. On average, 85% of the light-polluted ...

Scientists Show Accelerating Carbon Dioxide Release from Rocks in Arctic Canada With Global Warming

Oct. 9, 2024 — Researchers have shown that weathering of rocks in the Canadian Arctic will accelerate with rising temperatures, triggering a positive feedback loop ...

Declines in Plant Resilience Threaten Carbon Storage in the Arctic

Oct. 10, 2024 — Rapid warming has impacted the northern ecosystem so significantly that scientists are concerned the region's vegetation is losing the ability to recover from climate shocks, suggests a new ...

Researchers Develop New Technique to Measure Previously Undetected Airborne PFAS

Oct. 9, 2024 — For decades, scientists knew there was a huge swath of undetected and unaccounted for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the atmosphere, ...

Decades-Long Research Reveals New Understanding of How Climate Change May Impact Caches of Arctic Soil Carbon

Oct. 3, 2024 — Utilizing one of the longest-running ecosystem experiments in the Arctic, researchers have developed a better understanding of the interplay among ...

The Rate of Climate Change Threatens to Exceed the Adaptive Capacity of Species

Oct. 2, 2024 — A recent study focusing on the Arctic Siberian primrose underscores the critical need to curb climate change to allow species time to adapt through ...

The Vikings Were Part of a Global Network Trading in Ivory from Greenland

Sep. 30, 2024 — New research shows that the Vikings traveled more than 6,000 kilometers to the Arctic to hunt for walrus. DNA analyses reveal that walrus ivory from Greenland was brought to Europe and probably as ...

Abrupt Intensification of Northern Wildfires Due to Future Permafrost Thawing

Sep. 24, 2024 — Climate scientists and permafrost experts show that, according to new climate computer model simulations, global warming will accelerate permafrost thawing and as a result lead to an abrupt ...

Extreme Polar Light Environment of the North and South Poles Sustains Biodiversity

Sep. 23, 2024 — Researchers working in Finland propose that the unique light environment of the Earth's Polar regions creates conditions that result in circumpolar hybrid zones around the North and the South ...

Arctic Warming May Fuel Ice Formation in Clouds

Sep. 19, 2024 — Rising temperatures are thought to reduce the number of ice crystals in clouds, leading to the formation of liquid-dominated clouds. However, a new study has found that Arctic warming is causing an ...

If You Build It, Will They Come? Wildlife Corridors Need Smarter Design

Sep. 18, 2024 — A study reveals that current methods of designing and evaluating wildlife corridors may not be adequate to ensure wildlife protection, and suggests that Best Management Practices should include ...

How Earth's Most Intense Heat Wave Ever Impacted Life in Antarctica

Sep. 4, 2024 — An atmospheric river brought warm, moist air to the coldest and driest corner of the planet in 2022, pushing temperatures 70 degrees above average. A new study reveals what happened to ...

Photosynthesis in Near Darkness

Sep. 4, 2024 — Photosynthesis can take place in nature even at extremely low light levels. This is the result of a study that investigated the development of Arctic microalgae at the end of the polar night. The ...

A Better Understanding of Climate Change: Researchers Study Cloud Movement in the Arctic

Sep. 4, 2024 — Special features of the Arctic climate, such as the strong reflection of the sun's rays off the light snow or the low position of the sun, amplify global warming in the Arctic. However, ...

Study Reveals Crucial Role of Mixing Atlantic and Arctic Waters in Global Ocean Circulation

Aug. 29, 2024 — A new study sheds light on the vital role that the mixing of Atlantic and Arctic waters plays in sustaining the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which is crucial for regulating ...

Cold Math, Hot Topic: Sea Ice Thermal Conductivity

Aug. 27, 2024 — Researchers developed a mathematical model showing how brine movement in sea ice enhances heat transfer, potentially improving climate change predictions for polar ...

Researchers Reveal the Causes for Greenland's Abnormal Warming

Aug. 27, 2024 — The climate factors revealed in a new study shed light on Greenland's climate and can help predict the future development of Greenland's ice ...

Researchers Find Unexpectedly Large Methane Source in Overlooked Landscape

Aug. 9, 2024 — Researchers reported that upland landscapes were releasing some of the highest methane emissions yet documented among northern terrestrial ecosystems. The research was sparked when a potent ...

Mix of Factors Prompts Owl Monkeys to Leave Their Parents

Aug. 7, 2024 — There comes a point in the lives of young owl monkeys when they leave their parents and strike out on their own to find a mate. In a new study of a wild population of Azara's owl monkeys in ...

Alaskan Land Eroding Faster Due to Climate Change

Aug. 7, 2024 — A new study shows that frozen land in Alaska is eroding faster than it can be replaced due to climate ...

Greenland Fossil Discovery Reveals Increased Risk of Sea-Level Catastrophe

Aug. 5, 2024 — Seeds, twigs, and insect parts found under two miles of ice confirm Greenland's ice sheet melted in the recent past, the first direct evidence that the center -- not just the edges -- of the ...

Climate Change May Lead to Shifts in Vital Pacific Arctic Fisheries

Aug. 1, 2024 — Commercially important marine fish and invertebrate species will likely shift northwards under a warmer climate, according to new ...

Scientists Devise Method to Secure Earth's Biodiversity on the Moon

July 31, 2024 — New research led proposes a plan to safeguard Earth's imperiled biodiversity by cryogenically preserving biological material on the moon. The moon's permanently shadowed craters are cold ...

Local Food Production Saves Costs and Carbon

July 29, 2024 — Emphasizing local food production over imported substitutes can lead to significant cost and carbon savings, according to data from the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Canadian Arctic. The ...

Although Tiny, Peatland Microorganisms Have a Big Impact on Climate

July 17, 2024 — Polyphenols are generally toxic to microorganisms. In peatlands, scientists thought microorganisms avoided this toxicity by degrading polyphenols using an oxygen-dependent enzyme, and thus that ...

Sea Ice's Cooling Power Is Waning Faster Than Its Area of Extent

July 17, 2024 — As sea ice disappears and grows less reflective, the Arctic has lost around a quarter of its cooling power since 1980, and the world has lost up to 15%, according to new ...

Exploring the Radiative Effects of Precipitation on Arctic Amplification and Energy Budget

July 8, 2024 — While, in theory, precipitation impacts the Earth's radiation budget, the radiative effects of precipitation (REP) are poorly understood and excluded from most climate models. Hence, a new study ...