Avg Temps In Siberia Along Northern Sea Route Up 5C In Just 20 Years; Ecosystem Changes @ Warp Speed
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The trend has been going on for many years. The latest climate report by Roshydromet says that average winter temperatures along the Northern Sea Route, the waters located along the countrys Arctic coast, have increased by about 5 degrees since the 1990s. And the warming is most significant in the areas around the Kara Sea, the report reads.
The extraordinarily heat continues into spring. Temperature maps from Roshydromet show that another heat wave in mid-May swept over the region. In parts of northern Siberia, including the remote Arctic peninsulas of Yamal, Gydan and Taymyr, the average temperature on the 23rd May were as much as 16 degrees Celsius higher than normal.
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The high temperatures have a major effects on ecosystems in the region. Researchers from the Tomsk State University have over the last years discovered that a big number of lakes on the Yamal-Nenets tundra have turned into wetlands. Normally, the formation of a drained lake is a pretty extensive and gradual process that takes several decades, says head of research project Sergey Loiko. But in this case, everything happens several ten times quicker, he explains. When a research team from the university was in the region in 2016, a lake disappeared in just few weeks, the university writes on its website.
The year 2016 is so far the warmest on record. But the following years have been only slightly colder. According to Roshydromet, 2019 was the second warmest year in the Arctic since measurements started in 1936. The higher temperatures are accompanied by rapid growth of vegetation and greening of the region. This trend is very clear for indigenous peoples in the area, the researchers say. Over the last decades they have seen a significant change of local bio diversity, the appearance of grass and new kinds of animals and insects.
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https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic-ecology/2020/05/red-alert-northern-siberia-heat-shocks-threaten-life-tundra