The warming of the Arctic has occurred nearly four times faster than in the rest of the world, shows measurements from the past four decades. The Arctic is now, on average, approximately 3°C warmer than it was in 1980.
In a new study, researchers confirm that climate change is affecting vegetation – Svalbard is getting greener.
Source:
Stein Rune Karlsen, NORCE
The increased plant growth makes the tundra grass taller and denser. The picture shows tundra grass where the leaves grew over 30 centimeters tall this summer. In cold and short summers, growth is significantly lower.
Researchers from NORCE, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Eurac Research, and the University of Cambridge have studied how climate change affects vegetation in Svalbard. They have examined daily satellite data back to the year 2000. The results show that plant growth in Svalbard has increased significantly during this period. Summer temperatures have also increased substantially.
Senior researcher Stein Rune Karlsen at NORCE explains the development:
– Plant growth is closely linked to summer temperatures. In recent years there have been significant changes in the other seasons in Svalbard, and now the summers are getting warmer. A new record in plant growth was first set in 2016, but that record was shattered in 2018. Growth was even higher in 2020, and a new clear record was set in 2022. The last two summers have yet to be measured with satellite data, but it is likely that further new records have been set.
Karlsen points out that July 2023 in Longyearbyen was record warm. The summer of 2024 also recorded temperatures well above normal with record-warm June and August. This indicates very high plant growth in the last two years as well.
The researchers compared satellite data with daily temperature data from 11 meteorological stations. Summer temperatures are extremely important for Arctic (and especially High Arctic) plant growth, and in Svalbard, there is a clear connection between measurements of vegetation growth and temperatures in June and July.
Some areas show increased plant growth, while others show less response. The study has identified a link between plant growth and sea ice extent. The unusually rapid warming of the northern Barents Sea is due to a strong decline in sea ice.
The researchers also observe local differences in plant growth. The permafrost is thawing, leading to larger areas of water accumulation that impact growth. In some places, reindeer and geese graze, making it difficult to measure the actual amount of plant growth in the area. Additionally, it is uncertain what happens in moss tundra in some areas, as moss-dominated regions are difficult to measure with satellites.
– The greatest increase in plant growth is in eastern Svalbard, on Edgeøya and Barentsøya. There areas have experienced the largest increase in temperatures as there is almost no sea ice left east of Svalbard in the summer. A rough estimate is that there is now about 100,000 tons more dry weight of plants for the whole of Svalbard compared to the cold summer of 2008. The summer of 2008 was one of the last years when sea ice covered the sea areas east of Svalbard for most of the summer, says Karlsen.
Plant growth trend
Stein Rune Karlsen, Arve Elvebakk, Laura Stendardi, Kjell Arild Høgda, Marc Macias-Fauria, Greening of Svalbard, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 945, 2024, 174130, ISSN 0048-9697, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174130
Download paper in Science of The Total Environment
Postal Address: P.O.B 22 Nygårdstangen
NO-5838 Bergen
E-mail: post@norceresearch.no
Phone: +47 56 10 70 00
Visit us: See an overview of all our locations.
NORCE Research AS
Address: P.O.B 22 Nygårdstangen
NO-5838 Bergen
Organisation number: 919 408 049.
Invoices by e-mail in PDF format: fakturamottak@norceresearch.no
Always label invoices with our order number. Where an order number is not available, label the invoice with employee ID number or name of the purchaser.