UM Professors Work with NASA to Examine Climate Change Impacts
MISSOULA – As part of a broad effort to study the environmental and societal effects of climate change, NASA has begun a multiyear field campaign to investigate ecological impacts of the rapidly changing climate in Alaska and northwestern Canada, such as the thawing of permafrost, wildfires and changes to wildlife habitats. Two University of Montana professors will contribute to the study.
“Boreal forests and tundra are critical for understanding the ecological impacts of Earth’s changing climate,” said Jack Kaye, associate director for research in NASA’s Earth Science Division in Washington. “These ecosystems hold a third of the carbon stored on land – in trees, shrubs and the frozen ground of the permafrost. That’s a lot of potential greenhouse gases in play. We need to better understand these ecosystems and how a warming climate will affect forests, wildlife and communities both regionally and globally.”