© Jim Leape / WWF
In brief
News from the Arctic (2025.03)
Volcanic emissions travel 2,000 km to the Arctic
CROSS-BORDER POLLUTION
In 2023, a volcanic eruption in Iceland sent sulphur dioxide pollution more than 2,000 km across the North Atlantic, triggering severe smog in the Svalbard Islands. This is according to a study by a Chinese-led research team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, published recently in The Innovation Geoscience.
Using a powerful combination of satellite data and ground-based monitoring, researchers traced 80 per cent of the sulphur dioxide in Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard to the 2023 eruption of Iceland’s Sundhnúkagigar volcano. The team relied on two Chinese satellites equipped with an environmental trace gas monitoring instrument along with real-time data from the Yellow River Station in Svalbard—the Arctic’s only continuous atmospheric monitoring post.
Volcanic eruptions spew millions of tons of gases like sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. These can transform into sulphate particles that reflect sunlight, potentially causing global cooling. However, they also contribute to acid rain, and fine volcanic ash particles can trigger respiratory problems in humans.
The research highlights how technology is revolutionizing environmental science, offering precise tools to track pollution on a global scale and protect human health and fragile ecosystems from far-reaching effects.
© WWF / Sindre Kinnerød
Arctic plants changing with the climate
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Climate change is altering Arctic plant communities—but whether plants are better or worse off depends on the species, according to a recent study in Nature. Researchers looked at more than 2,000 Arctic plant communities from 1981 to 2022, focusing on those in the Canadian Arctic, Alaska and Scandinavia.
More than 54 researchers from 50 institutions collaborated on the project. They found that although the total number of plant species remained the same over the four decades, some have been declining in response to warmer temperatures, while others are flourishing.
The researchers found that locations that experienced more warming gained new species—but in some cases, these newcomers contributed to the decline of existing species. For example, shrubs are now a dominant plant species at many of the sites examined, and their spread has reduced the abundance of shorter plants by limiting their access to sunlight.
Changes to plant species are also having a ripple effect on animal species. To continue with the shrubs example, more shrubs spells bad news for certain migratory birds, such as ground nesting birds, because they prefer open landscapes and shorter vegetation.
Greenland’s coastline expands by more than 1,600 km
GLACIER RETREAT
Greenland has gained more than 1,600 kilometres of new coastline over the past two decades due to accelerating glacial retreat, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change.
The research, conducted by an international team of scientists, used satellite imagery from 2000 to 2020 to track the recession of marine-terminating glaciers (those that flow into the ocean) across the northern hemisphere. The team found that about 2,466 kilometres of new coastline have emerged, with Greenland accounting for some two-thirds of the total.
The retreat of the glaciers has also exposed 35 new islands larger than 0.5 square kilometres in size, 29 of which are in Greenland. Some of these islands had never been recorded on maps before, indicating they were concealed by ice for centuries.
While the newly exposed land may present opportunities for resource exploration and shipping routes, scientists caution that these changes also bring significant risks. The freshly uncovered coastlines are often unstable and prone to erosion, landslides or tsunamis, posing threats to local communities and ecosystems.
© Georgia DNR, NOAA Permit #15488. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via Flickr.com
Harnessing the power of AI to protect whales
PREVENTING SHIP STRIKES
Researchers from Rutgers University–New Brunswick in the US have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that will help prevent ship strikes on whales. The tool is designed to predict endangered whale habitats and help ships along the Atlantic coast steer clear of them.
The researchers describe the new tool in a report published in Nature’s journal, Scientific Reports. By analyzing vast datasets using AI-powered software, their method improved upon existing monitoring techniques, offering a more precise way to track the movements of important marine species, such as the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. These whales have been listed as endangered since 1970, and only approximately 370 individuals are left today.
Along with reducing deadly ship strikes, the AI tool is meant to inform conservation strategies and promote responsible ocean development in general. Although the researchers initially created it to protect the North Atlantic right whale, they say it could be valuable for anyone engaged in the blue economy, including those who work in fisheries, shipping or sustainable energy.
By WWF Global Arctic Programme
