A Tropical Arctic

            When you think of the Artic do you think of lush trees and warm summers?  According to researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Artic was once covered in forests and its summers were 8 degrees Celsius warmer than today’s temperatures.  They discovered sediments buried beneath Lake El’gygytygn (pronounced EL-gih-git-gin) in Russia.  These sediments come from the Pliocene epoch.  During that period of time, the carbon dioxide concentration in Earth’s atmosphere was almost 400 parts per million.  Today, the Earth is close to approaching that, and the events that happened in the Pliocene era could be a good predictor for what could happen in Earth’s future.

            According to the research done, 3.6 million years ago the Artic was three times as wet as it is today and its average summer temperatures were 15 degrees Celsius.  Over time, the temperatures cooled down but still remained a few degrees warmer than they are today.  Even during periods where the Artic should’ve been cold and frigid, warm summers prevailed.  This shows that Earth’s constant changing between glacial periods is more complicated than scientists originally thought.  Also, the Artic had little to no ice year round.  If these events are a good predictor for the future what will happen to the animals that have evolved to survive using the sea ice?

Nature Of Science Themes:

·         Based on Evidence: The researchers found physical evidence of the warm Artic climate

·         Collaborative: A team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst worked together on this project

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350292/description/The_Arctic_was_once_warmer_covered_by_trees