Opinion: The Arctic has changed dramatically in just a few decades

The Arctic can seem like a faraway place, disconnected from everyday life if you’re not one of the 4 million people who live there. Yet ongoing changes in the Arctic as temperatures rise can profoundly affect life around the world.

Coastal flooding is getting worse in many communities as Arctic glaciers and the Greenland ice sheet send meltwater into the oceans. Heat-trapping gases released by Arctic wildfires and thawing tundra quickly mix into the air, adding to human-caused emissions that are warming the planet. Unusual and extreme weather events, pressure on food supplies, and increased threats from wildfires and associated smoke may all be influenced by changes in the Arctic.

In the 2024 Arctic Report Card, released December 10, we brought together 97 scientists from 11 countries, with expertise ranging from wildlife and wildfires to sea ice and snow, to report account of the state of the Arctic environment.

They describe the rapid changes they are witnessing in the Arctic and the consequences for people and wildlife that affect every region of the globe.

The pace of change in the Arctic is accelerating

The Arctic today is strikingly different from that of a decade or two ago. Over the 19 years that the Arctic Bulletin has existed, we and the many authors who contributed to the report have seen the pace of environmental change accelerate and the challenges become more complex.

Over the past 15 years, the Arctic snow season has been one to two weeks shorter than in the past, changing the timing and character of the seasons.

Shorter snow seasons can put a strain on plants and animals that rely on regular seasonal changes. Longer snow-free seasons can also reduce water resources due to snowmelt earlier in the spring or summer and increase the risk of drought.

The extent of sea ice, an important habitat for many animals, has declined such that today’s mostly thin, seasonal sea ice landscape is unrecognizable from thicker, more extensive sea ice. decades past.

With a shorter sea ice season, the dark surface of the ocean is exposed and can absorb and store more heat during the summer, which then contributes to increased air and sea temperatures. ‘ocean. This is consistent with observations of long-term warming of Arctic ocean surface waters. Animals dependent on sea ice may also be forced ashore or endure longer fasting seasons. The Arctic shipping season is also lengthening, with shipping traffic increasing rapidly each summer.

Overall, 2024 brought the second warmest temperatures to the Arctic since measurements began in 1900, and the wettest summer on record.

Arctic tundra becomes a source of carbon

For thousands of years, the Arctic tundra landscape of shrubs and permafrost, or frozen ground, acted as a carbon dioxide sink, meaning the landscape absorbed and stored this gas that would otherwise trap heat in the atmosphere.

But permafrost in the Arctic is warming and thawing. Once thawed, microbes in permafrost can break down long-stored carbon, breaking it down into carbon dioxide and methane. These heat-trapping gases are then released into the atmosphere, causing increased global warming.

Wildfires have also increased in size and intensity, releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and the wildfire season has lengthened.

These changes have pushed the tundra ecosystem to its limits. Susan Natali and her colleagues discovered that the Arctic tundra region is now a source – not a sink or storage location – of carbon dioxide. It was already a source of methane due to thawing permafrost.

The natural capacity of the Arctic landscape to help buffer heat-trapping anthropogenic gases is disappearing, increasing the urgency to reduce human emissions.

Strong regional differences make planning difficult

The Arctic Report Card covers October to September each year, and 2024 was the second warmest year on record in the Arctic. Yet the experience of people living in the Arctic can resemble regional or seasonal weather whiplash.

Strong regional differences in weather conditions can make planning difficult and challenge familiar seasonal patterns. These include very different conditions in neighboring areas or big changes from one season to the next.

For example, parts of North America and Eurasia have experienced more winter snow than usual over the past year. Yet the Canadian Arctic experienced the shortest snow season in 26 years. The early loss of winter snow can strain water resources and exacerbate drought conditions, which can increase fire risk.

The Arctic summer was the third warmest on record, and parts of Alaska and Canada saw record daily temperatures during August heat waves. Still, residents of Greenland’s west coast experienced an unusually cool spring and summer. Although the Greenland ice sheet continued its 27-year record for ice loss, the loss was lower than in many recent years.

Ice seals, caribou and people feel the change

The rapid warming of the Arctic is also affecting wildlife in different ways.

As Lori Quakenbush and her colleagues explain in this year’s report, Alaska’s ice seal populations, including ringed, bearded, spotted and banded seals, are currently healthy despite the decline in sea ice. sea ​​and warming of ocean waters in their Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort marine habitats.

However, ringed seals eat more saffron cod than the more nutritious Arctic cod. Polar cod are very sensitive to water temperature. As waters warm, their range shifts northward, becoming less abundant on the continental shelves where seals feed. So far, the negative effects on seal populations and their health are not yet apparent.

On land, large inland caribou herds are in massive decline. Climate change, roads and human buildings all have an impact. Some indigenous communities who have relied on specific herds for millennia are deeply concerned about their future and the impact on their diet, culture, and the region’s complex, connected life systems. Some small coastal herds are doing better.

Indigenous peoples of the Arctic have extensive knowledge of their region, passed down for thousands of years, allowing them to thrive in what can be an inhospitable region. Today, their observations and knowledge provide vital support to Arctic communities forced to quickly adapt to these and other changes. Supporting Indigenous hunters and fishermen is, by nature, an investment in knowledge and long-term stewardship of Arctic places.

Action for the Arctic and the world

Despite global agreements and bold targets, human emissions of heat-trapping gases are still at record levels. And natural landscapes, like the Arctic tundra, are losing their ability to help reduce emissions.

At the same time, the impacts of climate change are intensifying, increasing wildfires in the Arctic, affecting buildings and roads as permafrost melts, and increasing flooding and coastal erosion as sea levels rise. sea ​​increases. The effects put a strain on the plants and animals that humans depend on.

Our 2024 Arctic Report Card continues to sound the alarm, reminding everyone that minimizing future risks – in the Arctic and all of our hometowns – requires cooperation to reduce emissions, adapt to damage and build resilience for the future. We are in the same boat.

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Twila A. Moon is an Associate Principal Scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Environmental Sciences Research (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder.

Matthew L. Druckenmiller is a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Rick Thoman is Alaska Climate Specialist, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Originally published by The conversation.

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