OSLO (Reuters) - trees in the Arctic region can reach over 500 km (300 miles) to the North by 2100 green the barren tundra and causes sweeping change in the climate change wildlife, said an eminent expert.
An acceleration of the melting of the permafrost, ice and snow allow species more to the South, such as pine or animals such as foxes move to the North.
Aevar Petersen, President of the Conservation of the flora of Arctic and fauna (CAFF), "Changes seem to occur even more rapidly that we expected just 10 years ago," said Reuters Greenland Thursday, where foreign ministers of the countries of the Arctic have agreed measures to strengthen regional cooperation.
"Scientists estimate that the forest limit could travel 500 km north of 2100 now", he said, based on projections CAFF. If this happened, as much as half the Arctic tundra of Siberia to the Canada could disappear.
In some places, shrubs with Evergreen in the South was made in charge of grasses, mosses and lichens typical of tundra. "The tree line moves north rapidly", he said.
CAFF is supported by the Arctic Council, comprising the United States, Russia, Canada and the five Nordic nations.
Other experts say that timber companies such as Stora Enso or Abitibi may not benefit from climate change. Best growth conditions can also bring more pests and forest fires.
Arctic warming is happening about two times faster than in the rest of the world. As reflective snow and ice pushed, they expose the soil or water, which are of a darker colour and so absorb more heat from the Sun.
Polar bears are among those under threat of an acceleration of melting sea ice.
"Fear us for the polar bear if the melting of the ice," said Petersen. "He really have anywhere to go.". An international report expected last week that the Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer in the 1930s and 1940s.
Foreign Ministers of the Arctic Council agreed to strengthen cooperation and has signed an agreement splitting of search and rescue responsibilities as the region becomes more accessible to shipping, mining and oil and gas exploration.
CAFF study has shown that wild species in the High Arctic were generally in decline while those slightly to the South increased. On Earth, many cannot move north if temperatures because they must cope with the barrier of the Arctic Ocean.
Millions of birds, shorebirds, such as the Red node which migrates as the Australia or South Africa, build nests on the ground in the High Arctic. Their eggs and chicks will be extremely vulnerable to predators such as foxes if the region is warming.
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