As the fastest warming region of the planet, the Arctic is feeling the brunt of climate change, which has a profound impact on its vegetation. Extreme winter events caused extensive plant damage in recent years – especially in Scandinavia – which counteracts the decade-long expansion of shrubs prompted by warmer summers. However, arctic ecosystems are not just a passive victim of climate change, but influence it through a complex interplay of vegetation, snow and permafrost. This talk will highlight these interactions to show how the thin green line between the soil and the atmosphere may trigger climate feedbacks with implications for our global climate.
Frans-Jan Parmentier is an Associate Professor in Geobiosphere Science. He shares a position between the Department of Geosciences at the University of Oslo and the Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science at Lund University in Sweden. He has done extensive fieldwork across the Arctic, in Northeast Siberia, Svalbard and Greenland, and uses this experience to advance terrestrial biosphere models. Besides his research, he is also a columnist for the newspaper Klassekampen.