fragility of cold environments

Question 1

Why are cold environments fragile?

Answer 1

Slow ecosystems development and highly specialised habitats
- plants and animals adapting to lack of daylight and harsh conditions of strong.
Sensitive to change - animals are sensitive to change after adapting
- scientists are concerned abt consequences of climate change in Artic and sub-Artic regions
If damaged ecosystems can take a long time to recover or may never recover

Question 2

Environmental fragility

Answer 2

• Some ecosystems can cope with climatic conditions and land-use impact
• Some are more sensitive to any environmental change
• Natural events can also precipitation sudden changes
• Human activity causing specialised habitats to change making them unable to be self-sustainable

Question 3

Impact of climate change in the arctic

Answer 3

• Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the globe
• Decline in the thickness of Arctic sea ice
• Satellite data show that over the past 30 years = arctic sea ice declined by 30% in September and glaciers in Greenland and northern Canada are retreating
• Permafrost has started to thaw

Question 4

Indigenous population

Answer 4

• Nomadic Nenet tribes have migrated along the remote Yamal peninsula in North-west Siberia
• Summer = -> north, taking their reindeers across landscape of boggy ponds, rhododendron-like shrubs and wind-blasted birch trees
• Winter = return southwards
• Climate change threatening region
• Nenets travel across frozen ground but temps are preventing the journey
• reindeers go hungry ands cannot pull sledges
• rising sea levels = risk of flooding
• ice based animals, food source now scarcer