Warming in the Arctic (broadcast Friday, September 11th, 2009)

An adult female muskox and two calves in Greenland during 2008-2009. Photo by Eric Post, Penn State University.

A newly-published review of research in the journal Science this week looks at the effects of climate change on Arctic species. Rapid, widespread changes in the Arctic regions, the authors say, have been especially significant to species that depend on the ice for foraging, reproduction, and predator avoidance, such as the hooded seal, ringed seal, Pacific walrus, narwhal, and polar bear. In addition, species once confined to more southerly ranges now are moving northward, invading the upper Arctic zones.

"The Arctic as we know it may soon be a thing of the past," said Eric Post, one of the authors of the report. We'll talk to him about the findings.