Is the Arctic environment changing?
The Arctic is a vast, ice-covered ocean that is surrounded by tree-less, frozen land, which is often covered with snow and ice. The rigors of this harsh environment are a challenge to living, working and performing research in the Arctic. None the less, the Arctic is an ecosystem that teems with life including organisms living in the ice, fish and marine mammals living in the sea, birds, land animals such as wolves, caribou and polar bears, and human societies. The Arctic has been changing in the last 30 years. Some of the clearest indicators of this change are warming of spring temperatures in Alaska, the warming of winter temperaturess in N Europe, the loss of sea ice area in the central Arctic, and the conversion of tundra to wetlands and shrub lands in E. Siberia and NW Canada and Alaska. These changes in physical conditions also have impacted marine and terrestrial ecosystems. An overview of the current status of the Arctic from 1970 to the present can be seen in this table of Arc
