ice cap

Scientists who work in the Alaskan Arctic have discovered that local shrubs are growing larger and spreading across previously bare areas of the tundra. Researchers looked through aerial photos taken 50 years ago and compared them with new photos and found that shrub growth in some of the areas has increased as much as 15 percent.

?The Alaskan Arctic for three decades has gotten considerably warmer and experimental and model studies have shown that there should be more shrubs,? says Matthew Sturm, a U.S. Army geophysicist working in Alaska. ?We come along and find these photos, and that?s exactly what we?re seeing.?
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