With Christmas approaching, the legendary day of Santa Claus's gifts is approaching, but the reindeer, which is Santa's good helper, has reported a sharp decline in numbers in recent years.
Studies have shown that the number of wild reindeer in the Arctic has dropped significantly, from 5 million to 2.1 million, and the reason for the large decline in reindeer populations is inseparable from climate change.
According to the Arctic Report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the number of wild reindeer and North American reindeer herds around the Arctic Circle has declined sharply in recent years, and Don Rueesll, an ecologist who led the reindeer study in the report, said that fluctuations in animal population size are normal in natural cycles, and they can range from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands in decades, and then back to hundreds of thousands. But now the problem with the reindeer herd is that their numbers show no signs of rebounding, but have been declining.
▲Reindeer data photo.
Since the mid-20th century, the size of the reindeer herd has declined by about 56%. The report notes that climate change has led to a warming of the Arctic Circle, an increase in flies and parasites in the warm Arctic Circle in summer, and a thawing of permafrost soils, which may allow disease to spread among herds. According to environmental scientist Howard Epstein, the warming climate has increased drought in the Arctic and changed vegetation, making it more difficult for reindeer who feed on lichens and mosses to eat food; and increased rainfall, raindrops form a solid layer of ice in the tundra, making it more difficult for many animals living in the Arctic Circle to walk and feed.
In addition to the decline in reindeer populations and irretrievable trends, the Earth Vitality Report 2018 released by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) this year also pointed out that more than 4,000 species of organisms on earth, such as mammals, reptiles and amphibians, have dropped by 60%.