News in Brief Animals

Skimpy sea ice linked to reindeer starvation on land

Warmer water may trigger inland rain storms, forming ice that animals can’t crack to graze

reindeer rumps

DRIVER’S SIDE VIEW  Reindeer on Russia’s Yamal peninsula give nomadic herders their livelihood from sledge transportation to fur and meat. Changing ice patterns out at sea may disrupt this traditional lifestyle.

Courtesy of B. Forbes

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Unseasonable shrinking of sea ice could trigger another peril of climate change: increasing ice-overs on land that starve reindeer and threaten Siberian herders’ way of life.