Warming Arctic turning greener, finds study

Scientists have rung another warning bell about changes in the fragile ecosystem of the Arctic, saying that vegetation found in areas several degrees to the south of the region 30 years ago was now showing up in parts of the Arctic due to global warming linked temperature rise.

A Nasa-funded international study published in Nature Climate Change on Sunday, used a new 30-year satellite data set and temperature records to study the effect of temperature rise on vegetation in the Arctic and regions just below it.

The researchers found a 10% increase in Arctic plant growth since the early 1980s. This increase was seen in more than one-third of the vegetated lands. During the same period, the mean temperature of land in the region, excluding ice sheets, rose by 1 to 2 degrees celsius.

The findings were reported by an international team of 21 authors from seven countries, who used latitude as a yardstick to study seasonality changes. "Arctic plant growth during the early 1980s equalled that of lands above 64 degrees north. Today, just 30 years later, it equals that of lands above 57 degrees north," said co-author Terry Chapin of University of Alaska.

The study also found that temperature seasonality the temperature difference between summer and winter — was reducing in many Arctic regions because the colder seasons were warming more rapidly than the summers.

The Arctic region is witnessing some of the most dramatic fallouts of climate change. Changes in vegetation and seasons may hit availability of food and alter the life pattern of many animals like the polar bear. These could also hit migratory birds.

A warmer Arctic has implications for the rest of the world, too. "The warming reduces polar sea ice and snow cover in the Arctic land mass, thereby increasing the solar energy absorbed by the nolonger energy-reflecting surface . This sets in motion a cycle of positive reinforcement between warming and loss of sea ice and snow cover, amplifying the greenhouse effect," said lead co-author Ranga Myneni of Boston University.

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