Tundra News

January 20, 2025

Top Headlines

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 infrastructure, transport and supply, water ...

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 become stacked, and are a characteristic feature of ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:51pm EST

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 origin ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. 11, 2024 — Researchers have shown that weathering of rocks in the Canadian Arctic will accelerate with rising temperatures, triggering a positive feedback loop that will release more and more carbon dioxide to ...

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, often referred to as PFAS dark matter, but no one ...

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 plants, microbes and soil nutrients -- findings that ...

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 ...