Hudson Bay Lowlands - Last Arctic "Holdout" Region - Now Warming At "Extraordinary" Speed
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The Hudson Bay Lowlands were one of the last holdouts against the trend of global warming in the Arctic, but has in a very short period succumbed. In contrast to most of the Arctic, the lowlands maintained relatively stable temperatures until at least the mid-1990s. The region has been an Arctic refugium from warming due to the persistence of sea ice on Hudson Bay, the largest northern inland sea, that provides natural cooling.
Previous paleolimnological work (the study of lake histories) in the region found that the biological communities of lakes around Hudson Bay had remained stable for hundreds of years — unlike the dramatic shifts in aquatic biota that were observed throughout most of the Arctic in response to warming.
But in only a couple of decades, air temperatures in the region have increased at a pace and magnitude that are exceptional — even by Arctic standards. Recent studies by climate researchers on Hudson Bay have been reporting reductions in sea ice that have seen the open-water period lengthen by about three weeks compared to the 1990s. The melting sea ice has accelerated the warming trend of the region, quickly creating a positive feedback response that has increased the warming yet further.
We found that, for the first time in over 200 years, the lakes are showing signs of climate change. The diatom records showed relatively stable and simple assemblages consisting of benthic (bottom dwelling) species throughout the record until the last two decades. At that point, there was a distinct shift to more diverse assemblages that now include open water diatoms. These diatom changes are very similar to those we have found in lakes and ponds throughout circumpolar regions in response to rising air temperatures and less ice. But despite arriving much later in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, the speed and magnitude of the warming taking place here is extraordinary.
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http://grist.org/climate-energy/global-warming-finally-reaches-the-last-arctic-region/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed
