Climate Change at the Arctic’s Edge

Shrinking sea ice, retreating glaciers, a tree line migrating farther north, and less snow that also melts earlier—what do these climate related changes mean for the Arctic, and for all of us? “The Arctic fever…lives only in the mind, filling its victim with a consuming urge to wander again, and forever, through these mighty spaces where the caribou herds flow like living rivers over the roll of the tundra,” wrote Canadian author Farley Mowat. But this captivating landscape may cease to exist. On this evening, we’ll hear how volunteers on the Climate Change at the Arctic’s Edge project use sophisticated equipment to collect data on features of the snowpack, permafrost, and soil to reveal global-warming-related changes in these aspects of the Arctic, and to find and monitor the timing of seasonal events such as flowering, core evergreen trees to count their rings and needles. You’ll learn how teams survey mammals, birds, fish, and frogs, before returning to the comfort of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre to enter data and process water or plant samples in the state-of-the-art lab. All of this helps researchers access how climate change is impacting the Arctic, and us.

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