Satellites detecting how green the ground cover of plants is may show indications of plant death in the Arctic.
Gareth has been visiting Abisko, in the Arctic circle of Sweden, for years. He’s been there in the depths of winter when the snow is several feet deep, and in the height of summer when mosquitoes are buzzing around every person (and reindeer) in sight. If there’s one thing he’s learnt from his years of research in the Arctic circle, it’s to be prepared for extremes.
Gareth Phoenix, a Professor at the University of Sheffield, studies Arctic ecosystems. In particular, the impacts of climate change on the ecosystem structure and function. The Arctic is vast and the changes occurring here — retreating glaciers, melting permafrost and shrinking ice caps — have the potential to dramatically impact the rest of the world.
Despite this, from a scientific point of view, much of the Arctic is unexplored and unknown. One thing we know for certain is that for approximately 35 years it has seen increasing growth of vegetation — a process known as ‘Arctic greening’. However, now it looks as though some of it might actually be turning brown.
When satellites in space detect plants on Earth they measure the ‘greenness index’, in other words, how green the ground cover of plants is. How lush the foliage on the ground appears from space can represent a number of aspects down on earth, from plant growth to leaf area. But if areas of the Arctic are browning, it may indicate something else as well: plant death.
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Image via University of Sheffield
