Hamilton, ON – Ground squirrel droppings, preserved for millennia in the Yukon’s deep permafrost, have yielded an enormous amount of environmental DNA from dozens of species of plants, insects, microbes and large mammals, offering detailed genetic information about an environment that no longer exists. It is among the oldest ancient DNA ever recovered and sequenced. In […]
An international team of scientists has, for the first time, quantified the total carbon stored in permafrost at the mouth of rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean. According to a study recently published in the journal Nature Communications, about 1% of the world’s permafrost surface area lies in Arctic river deltas, which occupy an […]
New study explains what’s behind the toxic shift Scientists have identified the two biggest reasons that once-pristine rivers across the Arctic are growing cloudy with toxic orange iron particles that smother insects and suffocate fish. A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment builds on earlier research documenting widespread contamination in Alaska’s Brooks Range. As the climate warms, a […]
An irreversible shift in the chemical make-up of the Arctic Ocean driven by climate change is disrupting the region’s food chain, a study suggests. Widespread loss of Arctic sea ice has led to a sharp fall in levels of a key nutrient, affecting populations of plankton, fish, seabirds and marine mammals, researchers say. Their […]
