20 years of a warmer climate have melted the ice but also the reindeer, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal British Ecological Society (BES) and noticed by Why Doctor. Indeed, global warming would have put the reins on a diet and would have weakened them.
The reindeer living in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located between Norway and the Arctic lose weight and therefore resistance every year. In 1994, this animal weighed an average of 120 pounds, (55 kilograms), but in 2010, it weighed less than 108 pounds, (49 kg). “10-12% weight loss,” said Steve Albon, researcher, environmentalist at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland.
Researchers from the James Hutton Institute in Scotland, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences analyzed the reindeer population.
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Their survey showed that over 17 consecutive cohorts, the weight of adult reindeer decreased by 12%, from 55 kg for those born in 1994 to just over 48 kg for those born in 2010.
“Three factors, all influenced by climate change, are responsible for the weakening of the reindeer,” explains Professor Steve Albon of the Ecological Sciences group at the James Hutton Institute.
In Svalbard, snow covers the ground for eight months of the year, and low temperatures generally limit grass growth from June to July. As summer temperatures increased by 1.5 °, pastures became richer, allowing reindeer to gain more weight in the fall and therefore conceive more young.
But, warmer winters mean more rain which increases frost, thus locking up reindeer food under the snow. As a result, these deer starve, lose their young, or deliver lighter babies.
The third factor at play is that over the past 20 years the number of reindeer has doubled. So there is more competition for winter feeding which might also help explain reindeer weight loss.
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