Global Warming: Effects on the Tundra

What is tundra?

World’s coldest and driest biomes

• Located at latitudes 55° to 70° North( circumnavigating the North pole)
• 3 types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine tundra, and Antarctic tundra
• vast and treeless land which covers about 20% of the Earth’s surface
• cold, and the land is pretty stark
• low growing plants like mosses, heaths, and lichen
• covered with marshes, lakes, bogs and streams(When melt)
• insects and many migrating birds
• main seasons are winter and summer
• winds can blow between 30 to 60 miles per hour

Direct changes on tundra because of global warming

• Winter temperatures have increased
• Snow and sea ice coverage have shrunk
• unprecedented mass-melting
• glaciers are in retreat throughout the Arctic

Deeper influence according to these changes

• The permafrost is starting to melt
• pent-up carbon is already leaking into the air in the form of  CO2 and CH4 powerful greenhouse  gases
• They release CO2 and CH4 into the air as by products, gases that warm the planet by trapping heat energy from the sun
• allow plants to grow vigorously
• suck up huge amounts of carbon out from the atmosphere through photosynthesis(perhaps even enough to cancel out greenhouse gas emissions from the soil)
• Arctic soils harbour two to three times more carbon than is currently aloft in Earth’s atmosphere

William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team)

William completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in 2013. He current serves as a lecturer, tutor and freelance writer. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, walking his dog and parasailing. Article last reviewed: 2022 | St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2025 | Creative Commons 4.0

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