Forces deep inside Earth helped Antarctica freeze before the Arctic

Alaska's North Slope, a vast treeless region stretching from the Brooks mountain range to the Arctic Ocean, is home to a lush, knee-high jungle. Despite its desolate appearance, the tundra is teeming with life. Adam Bloom, a plant biology student from Florida Atlantic University, and Jake Francis, his professor, walked through the spongy, frozen soil, towering over the knee-high dwarf birch trees.

The Arctic's extreme environment has long provided researchers with a unique perspective on plant growth, offering insights that would be difficult to obtain elsewhere. With the Arctic warming four times faster than the rest of Earth, especially in the winter, this mini-greenhouse offers a valuable window into how climate change affects plant life.

The colder and further north in the Arctic, the smaller the plant life, mainly because winter conditions are harsh. Anything above the shallow, insulating snow cover is vulnerable to cold, wind, or wildlife. However, the cold is weakening, causing plants to grow taller and greener. Taller plants that previously couldn't survive the cold are moving in, a process called shrubification.

This can accelerate warming by trapping heat and altering the Arctic's dynamics. Darker tundra absorbs more radiation, contributing to "arctic amplification." Some taller plants, like willows, provide shade to streams, affecting the ecology of fish, insects, and birds. While taller plants absorb more carbon dioxide, they also increase the release of heat-trapping methane from microbes in the winter.

The Arctic's changing ecosystems could provide hope for the survival of some fragile Arctic ecosystems, as some plants may be adapting and genetically evolving to handle the stress of climate change.