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Climate change
Climate change determines the growth of vegetation in areas of the Arctic high tundra.
Parts of the treeless arctic tundra have turned greener as rising temperatures stimulate plant growth.
Low-resolution satellite imagery and some ground observations have suggested that the Arctic tundra, an often frozen landscape dotted with hardy small plants, has gotten greener since the 1980s. Now, Logan Berner of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and his colleagues have analyzed high-resolution images from Landsat Earth observation satellites.
The team found that between 1985 and 2016, 37% of the Arctic tundra, including parts of western Eurasia and North America, became substantially greener. And since the beginning of the century, the higher latitudes have experienced the most intense greening.
Temperature records show that Arctic air and soil got warmer in the summer, on average, over the study period. However, most of the areas didn’t get greener. And about 5% of the area studied became more brown rather than greener.
Changes in Arctic vegetation affect how carbon travels through the soil and atmosphere, how wildlife and people use the landscape, and the tundra’s vulnerability to fires.
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