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It is easy to think that sea ice only affects the ocean, but there is a lot of energy exchange between land and marine ecosystems. For example, seabirds build nests on islands, feed in the water, and then return to land, where their guano fertilizes the plants. The tundra is a low-productivity area that relies on energy input from the marine environment. This means that when sea ice dynamics change, not only marine food resources will change, but land resources will also change. And because people rely on land resources, whether they are picking eggs or eating reindeer, changes in sea ice will also affect the population. Everything is interrelated.
Nevertheless, without further research, it is difficult to predict the specific details of the climate’s impact on this system. “It is now difficult to predict based on all the intricate relationships just described,” she said.
A key species affected by tundra climate change is the lemming. Lemmings are small rodents that live under snow in winter, where the temperature is sufficient for them to survive and reproduce. In addition to isolating their food, snow can also protect them from predators.
Climate change has disrupted this delicate balance. When the cycle of melting and freezing changes, the snow on which the lemming depends becomes unpredictable. In a rain and snow event, water can seep into the snow and freeze the vegetation below, making the food supply for the lemmings unavailable. Many carnivores in the Arctic eat or choose their breeding sites according to the number of lemmings, and these carnivores also eat birds and bird eggs. In Igloolik, when there were more lemmings, Marie-Andre observed more arctic foxes and bird predators (such as long-tailed cheetahs, parasitic cheetahs, seagulls, crows, snow owls, and other birds of prey) . When climate change affects lemmings, it will indirectly affect other species in ways that are not fully understood.
Marie-Andrée is most encouraged by climate solutions, which take into account the needs and interests of different groups. The number of snow geese migrating from the United States and Canada to the Arctic for breeding has increased exponentially in the past 40 years due to the increase in the amount of farmland they forage in winter and on their migration routes. “They have increased to the point where they are harmful to the Arctic ecosystem. When they came here to breed, they over browsed the vegetation,” Marie-Andre said. This destroys the habitat and forces predators to eat other birds at a higher level.
One way to solve this problem is to implement a snow goose harvest plan-not only through spring hunting in the south, but also by encouraging the north to collect eggs and harvest adult snow geese in breeding grounds.
“If we can work hard to support a harvest plan that also helps protect the problem, I think it’s really good,” she said.
Savage sighting
The vast majority of Canada’s population (two-thirds) live within 100 kilometers of the US border. In Nunavut, a region with a population of less than 40,000, anyone living south of the Arctic Circle is considered a “southern.” I met one of the southerners on the streets of Montreal, Hunter McClain.
Hunter came from a small town in northern British Columbia, near the Hudson Bay Glacier. The glaciers that were once visible on the mountains have receded to the point where they are almost invisible in summer and spring. “People who live in the country are very adaptable to the seasons, and we noticed the changes in wildlife,” she told me. “The wild animals are a little crazy.”
For a year, bears did not hibernate because they could not find enough food. “All winter, all the little bears ran around the city looking for food. You can see them losing their hair and looking very thin,” Hunter said. “I have never seen a really skinny bear before, but when you see a skinny bear bouncing up on the ground, you will realize that it is a Sasquatch.” The bear on his hind legs looks It looks like a legendary monster. Hunter was scared, and was also “terrified by those who live in that area who deny climate change.” For her, the link with climate change is indisputable.
Adapted from 1,001 voices about climate change, By Dwyer Lockwood. Copyright © 2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. Reprinted with permission from Tiller Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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