This article discusses how the future Arctic won’t look like the Arctic we know now, says report, The region is entering into a period of unprecedented change suggests data since 1971. That wasn’t the title of the report Key indicators of Arctic climate change: 1971-2017 published Monday in Environment Research Letters, but 47 years worth of data says it may not be a stretch to go there. The study, authored by 20 researchers from an international roster of universities and climate research institutes, crunches nearly five decades of data related to nine key elements that define the Arctic.
This Inside Climate News article discusses the same study. Rising temperatures are triggering cascading effects across the polar region, from diminishing ice to changes in when plants flower and where wildlife is found. The researchers describe how warming in the Arctic, which is heating up 2.4 times faster than the Northern Hemisphere average, is triggering a cascade of changes in everything from when plants flower to where fish and other animal populations can be found. Together, the changes documented in the study suggest the effects on the region are more profound than previously understood.