The Arctic climate is a complex and sensitive eco-system. It is characterized by the absence of sunlight in winter, long days during summer and brutal weather. And there is nowhere else on Earth where temperatures are rising faster from climate change than in the Arctic.
The Earth is experiencing earlier springs due to rising temperatures from our relentless burning of fossil fuels. The question is how much earlier does Spring arrive. According to researchers at the University of California, Davis it depends on where you live.
The study, published in Nature’s online journal Scientific Reports, found that for every 10 degrees north from the equator you move, spring arrives about four days earlier than it did a decade ago. This northward increase in the rate of springtime advance is roughly three times greater than what previous studies have indicated.
For example, at southern to mid latitudes such as Los Angeles, New Orleans or Dallas, the study suggests spring might be arriving a mere one day earlier than it did a decade ago. Farther north, in Seattle, Chicago or Washington D.C., it might be arriving four days earlier. And if you live in the Arctic, it might be arriving as much as 16 days earlier.
UC Davis notes that the study is the most comprehensive analysis to date of springtime advance as you move north with latitude.
Cottongrass blow in the Greenland wind. Spring is advancing earlier in the polar regions and other high latitudes than it does at lower latitudes, according to a UC Davis study.UC Davis lead author Eric Post is quoted as saying, “Yes, spring is arriving earlier, and the Arctic is experiencing greater advances of spring than lower latitudes. What our study adds is that we connect such differences to more rapid springtime warming at higher latitudes.”
Springtime provides important biological cues for many plant and animal species, and it is unclear how an accelerated spring could play out for these species across the planet. The study notes that impacts to migratory birds are a potential concern. Many birds move from tropical zones to higher latitudes, such as the Arctic, to breed.
“Whatever cues they’re relying on to move northward for spring might not be reliable predictors of food availability once they get there if the onset of spring at these higher latitudes is amplified by future warming,” Post said. “The springtime emergence of the plants and insects they’ll eat when they arrive is happening faster than the changes at the lower latitudes those birds are departing from.”
A nest holding the eggs of northern wheatears rests on branches in Greenland. These birds are long-distance migrants, overwintering in sub-Saharan Africa and breeding in the Arctic. With earlier springs happening faster at higher but not lower latitudes, the birds may find themselves "late for dinner" if the insects they flew north to feast upon have already emerged.