Photo : Earth.com
Photo : Earth.com
By Lekshmi MK
BIODIVERSITY
Research finds dynamic changes in plants due to climate change in the Arctic
On 16 May, Utah State Today reported that scientists were embarking on a wide-ranging study over more than 2,000 tundra plant communities in 45 Arctic sites, monitoring how the ecosystems were reacting to a rapidly changing climate. More than 40 years of field data were being examined, showing that, while some regions were seeing growing biodiversity, others were seeing declines. Taller shrubs were spreading in some areas, creating shading that was inhibiting lower growing flowering species, but this trend was not being uniformly observed throughout the Arctic. The research team, which consisted of 54 researchers from 50 institutions, was reporting that plant communities were not converging in response to climate stress but instead displaying a mosaic of responses. This variability was challenging earlier assumptions about ecological change, demanding that warming patterns and local conditions were influencing plant dynamics in different ways. The findings were highlighting the complexity of Arctic ecosystems and the central importance of cooperative, long-term research in explaining the intricacies of climate change effects. (“ No Clear Winners: New Research Shows How Arctic Plants Are Responding to Warmer World,” Utah State Today, 16 May 2025)
CLIMATE CHANGE
Arctic afforestation as climate caution says the brighter side
On 16 May, The Brighter Side of News reported that the Arctic might have been appearing barren and lifeless, but its carbon-rich soils were quietly performing vital climate work beneath the surface. While tree planting was being promoted as a climate solution, it was actually addressing timber demands more than climate mitigation. In the rush to green the Arctic, people were overlooking how the region was highly prone to natural hazards. Newly planted forests were being put at serious risk, especially as reduced albedo was causing surfaces to absorb more heat, which in turn was rapidly melting snow and ice. The land was warming faster, and the permafrost was thawing. Meanwhile, herbivores like caribou were playing an unsung role by grazing, they were helping maintain the albedo effect and reducing insulation. True climate solutions were needing to emerge from the wisdom and involvement of Arctic communities, whose lives and traditions were being intertwined with the fragile ecosystem they were trying to protect. (Joseph Shavit, “ Planting trees in the Arctic could have dire consequences,” The Brighter Side of News, 16 May 2025)
Uneven rates of ice melting found in Antarctica
On 18 May, Wodne Sprawy reported that a team of scientists from the University of Leeds was observing an unusual phenomenon in Antarctica, termed "ice piracy," where one glacier was capturing ice from its neighbour. This interaction was being believed to unfold over a century, but new observations were showing it was already underway and accelerating due to changes in the Kohler East and Smith West ice streams. The team was estimating that the annual balance of this ice transfer could become equivalent to the length of seven football fields. There was slowing down being seen in Kohler West by roughly a ten per cent decrease in pace, attributed to presumably uneven rates of melting of nearby ice masses. This result was opposite to the deeply entrenched assumptions about glacial alteration, the alterations turning out to be feasible within less than 20 years images were assisting in the detection of this new ice diversion, which had major implications for the knowledge of glacial action and its effects on oceanic sea levels. (Zespol Redakcyjny, “Glaciers in Antarctica steal ice from each other at a surprising rate,” Wodne Sprawy, 18 May 2025)