Observations at the Abisko Scientific Research Station in northern Sweden show that today's snow contains more ice than before, creating problems for Scandinavian reindeer herders.
Alf Johansen, a reindeer herder in Finnmark in north Norway, is forced to feed his reindeer more often now to survive the winter. He points to two leading causes: stronger winds that create hard-packed snowdrifts that can destroy the grazing land and mild periods in winter.
"Periods of mild temperatures combined with frost create ice. We know what that means. The reindeer will not graze," Johansen says.
The consistency of snow has been measured at the Abisko Scientific Research Station since the 1960s. Researchers at Uppsala University have analysed the material and the results show that the amount of ice in the snow has increased from 5 percent to 10 percent.
"There are more layers of ice in the snow and we see, in particular, that the ice on the ground surface has increased considerably," says Cecilia Johansson, a meteorologist at Uppsala University. The Uppsala scientists believe that this is because the average annual temperature has increased. "Winter temperatures are rising and this enables ice layers to form in the snow," explains Cecilia Johansson.
For reindeer herder Alf Johansen, this is disastrous. "Ice forms on the ground in periods with a milder temperature and this causes the reindeer to stop grazing."
This story is posted on Alaska Dispatch as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.