Tundra News

March 24, 2025

Top Headlines

Arctic Sea Ice Loss Drives Drier Weather Over California and Wetter Over Spain and Portugal

Mar. 11, 2025 — On decadal timescales, the loss of Arctic ice favors the climate of the south-west of the United States -- and California in particular -- becoming drier on average, especially in winter. This ...

Tracking Polar Bears During Their Most Secretive Stage of Life

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have combined satellite collar data with specialized cameras to shed light on one of the most mysterious and important stages in polar bears' lives -- maternal denning, when bears give birth then emerge with their ...

The Unforseen Effects of Melting Glaciers on Arctic Coastal Ecosystems

Mar. 7, 2025 — Researchers found that climate change induced glacial melt increases the heavy metal content and changes the microbiome of habitat-forming brown algae in Arctic fjords. As algae are at the basis of the food web, this will likely have cascading ...

Caribou Migration Patterns Are Shrinking

Mar. 5, 2025 — The study shows caribou herds changed their migratory duration, distance or elevation over 35 years of radio tag ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:19pm EDT

Caribou Case Study Offers a New Model to Manage Species at Risk

Mar. 3, 2025 — Researchers are suggesting a more comprehensive approach for identifying at-risk wildlife populations -- such as caribou -- based on individual movement patterns. The article uses a long-term dataset ...

When the Wild Things Are: Surprising Details of Mammalian Daily Activity

Feb. 26, 2025 — A team has gathered photographic data on daily mammalian activity, studying 445 total species around the world with surprising results. The project generated a massive dataset of animal images ...

'Glacial Fracking': A Hidden Source of Arctic Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Feb. 19, 2025 — Arctic glaciers are leaking significant amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Glacial melt rivers and groundwater springs are transporting large volumes of methane from beneath the ice to the ...

Arctic Cyclones Could Be Missing Link in Sea Ice Depletion Models

Feb. 12, 2025 — A study gives possible insight into the underprediction of sea ice depletion and the formation of Arctic cyclones. The study could lead to more accurate weather and climate models and better ...

Global Warming and Mass Extinctions: What We Can Learn from Plants from the Last Ice Age

Feb. 12, 2025 — Global warming is producing a rapid loss of plant species -- according to estimates, roughly 600 plant species have died out since 1750 -- twice the ...

New Autonomous System to Monitor Arctic's Melting Ice

Feb. 10, 2025 — Researchers have designed an alternative, autonomous observational method to monitor the Arctic's melting ice, which holds promise for improving the autonomy of marine vehicles, aiding in maritime ...

An Arctic 'Beyond Recognition' by 2100

Feb. 7, 2025 — Based on the current pledges of countries for limiting their emissions of greenhouse gases, global temperatures are projected to reach 2.7 degrees Celsius beyond pre-industrial levels by the end of ...

Groundwater in Arctic Is Delivering More Carbon Into the Ocean Than Was Previously Known

Jan. 30, 2025 — A relatively small amount of groundwater trickling through Alaska's tundra is releasing huge quantities of carbon into the ocean, where it can ...

Polar Bear Population Decline the Direct Result of Extended 'Energy Deficit' Due to Lack of Food

Jan. 30, 2025 — Researchers have directly linked population decline in polar bears living in Western Hudson Bay to shrinking sea ice caused by climate ...

Earth Scientists Study Sikkim Flood in India to Help Others Prepare for Similar Disasters

Jan. 30, 2025 — Experts from the global Earth science community have pieced together what happened during the massive Sikkim flood to try to help others prepare for ...

Bad Hair Bears! Greasy Hair Gives Polar Bears Fur With Anti-Icing Properties

Jan. 29, 2025 — Scientists have discovered the anti-icing secret of polar bear fur -- something that allows one of the planet's most iconic animals to survive and thrive in one of its most punishing climates. ...

Unraveling the Connection Between Canadian Wildfires and Arctic Ice Clouds

Jan. 27, 2025 — Ice nucleating particles as a kind of aerosols have a significant impact on the Arctic climate by promoting the formation of ice clouds at a temperature above -- 38 degrees Celsius. Wildfires in ...

Coastal Waters: An Underestimated Source of Methane

Jan. 23, 2025 — Shallow coastal waters are hotspots for methane emissions, releasing significant amounts of this potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. This new research ...

Extreme Climate Pushed Thousands of Lakes in West Greenland 'Across a Tipping Point,' Study Finds

Jan. 21, 2025 — Following two months of record heat and precipitation in fall 2022, an estimated 7,500 lakes in West Greenland turned brown, began emitting carbon and decreased in water quality in less than a year. ...

Thawing Permafrost Threatens Up to Three Million People in Arctic Regions

Jan. 16, 2025 — In an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study, an international team examined the social risks for Arctic regions associated with thawing permafrost. They identified five key risks related to ...

Early Humans Adapted to Harsh Conditions More Than a Million Years Ago

Jan. 16, 2025 — A long-standing question about when archaic members of the genus Homo adapted to harsh environments such as deserts and rainforests has been answered in a new research ...

Ice Patches on Beartooth Plateau Reveal How Ancient Landscape Differed from Today's

Jan. 6, 2025 — Scientists say the frozen remnants of an ancient forest discovered 600 feet above the modern tree line on the Beartooth Plateau may portend possible changes for the alpine ecosystem if the climate ...

Marked Decrease in Arctic Pressure Ridges

Jan. 6, 2025 — In the Arctic, the old, multiyear ice is increasingly melting, dramatically reducing the frequency and size of pressure ridges. These ridges are created when ice floes press against each other and ...

Diversity of Novel Hydrothermal Vent Styles on the Arctic Ocean Floor

Dec. 19, 2024 — A new study about Earth's northernmost seafloor hydrothermal system shows even more variety in vent styles than previously thought. The study has important implications for understanding the ...

Climate and Land Use Change Threaten Traditional Food Sources in Russia's Far East

Dec. 13, 2024 — The distribution of traditional wild food sources in the Republic of Sakha could change significantly, affecting the diets and incomes of Indigenous rural communities who depend on ...

Countdown to an Ice-Free Arctic: New Research Warns of Accelerated Timelines

Dec. 3, 2024 — Scientists demonstrate how a series of extreme weather events could lead to the Arctic's first ice-free day within just a few ...

Enhancing Seaglider Technology to Measure Carbon Dioxide

Nov. 26, 2024 — Scientists around the world rely on ocean monitoring tools to measure the effects of climate change. Researchers advanced the technology available to measure carbon dioxide in the ...

Researchers Show Complex Relationship Between Arctic Warming and Arctic Dust

Nov. 26, 2024 — A study found that dust from snow- and ice-free areas of the Arctic could be an important contributor to climate change in the region. Higher levels of dust help promote the formation of ice crystals ...

Under-Ice Species at Risk as Arctic Warms

Nov. 26, 2024 — 'Specialist' lifeforms that live under Arctic sea ice are at risk as the ice retreats, new research ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...