Climate Change and UV-B Impacts on Arctic Tundra and Polar Desert Ecosystems: Key Findings and Extended Summaries
Author
Summary, in English
The Arctic has become an important region in which to assess
the impacts of current climate variability and amplification of projected global warming. This is because i) the Arctic has experienced considerable warming in recent decades (an average of about 3°C and between 4° and 5°C over much of the landmass);
i) climate projections suggest a continuation of the warming
trend with an increase in mean annual temperatures of 4–5°C by 2080;
ii) recent warming is already impacting the environment
and economy of the Arctic and these impacts are expected to increase and affect also life style, culture and ecosystems; and iv) changes occurring in the Arctic are likely to affect other regions of the Earth, for example changes in snow, vegetation and sea ice are likely to affect the energy balance and ocean circulation at regional and even global scales (Chapter 1 in ref. 1). Responding to the urgent need to understand and project impacts of changes in climate and UV-B radiation on many facets of the Arctic, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) (1) undertook a four-year study. Part of this study (1–10) assessed the impacts of
changes in climate and UV-B radiation on Arctic terrestrial ecosystems, both those changes already occurring and those likely to occur in the future. Here, we present the key findings of the assessment of climate change impacts on tundra and polar desert ecosystems, and xtended summaries of its components.
the impacts of current climate variability and amplification of projected global warming. This is because i) the Arctic has experienced considerable warming in recent decades (an average of about 3°C and between 4° and 5°C over much of the landmass);
i) climate projections suggest a continuation of the warming
trend with an increase in mean annual temperatures of 4–5°C by 2080;
ii) recent warming is already impacting the environment
and economy of the Arctic and these impacts are expected to increase and affect also life style, culture and ecosystems; and iv) changes occurring in the Arctic are likely to affect other regions of the Earth, for example changes in snow, vegetation and sea ice are likely to affect the energy balance and ocean circulation at regional and even global scales (Chapter 1 in ref. 1). Responding to the urgent need to understand and project impacts of changes in climate and UV-B radiation on many facets of the Arctic, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) (1) undertook a four-year study. Part of this study (1–10) assessed the impacts of
changes in climate and UV-B radiation on Arctic terrestrial ecosystems, both those changes already occurring and those likely to occur in the future. Here, we present the key findings of the assessment of climate change impacts on tundra and polar desert ecosystems, and xtended summaries of its components.
Publishing year
2004
Language
English
Pages
386-392
Publication/Series
Ambio: a Journal of Human Environment
Volume
33
Issue
7
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Springer
Topic
- Physical Geography
- Biological Sciences
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0044-7447