Climate Change Transforms Arctic Rivers

Climate change is not only transforming Arctic rivers, but affecting and transforming rivers all over the world. Why is this happening, and why does it matter?

When the climate changes around the world, for instance in the Arctic region, it has irreversible impacts upon our environment everywhere. Just think about the evolution of the Sahara desert. It was not always such a vast area. Other examples of drastic changes in our world´s environment include lakes Chad and Victoria on the African continent. In India, river Ganges is suffering from extreme pollution, so bad that the government in India is currently investing huge amounts of effort and money to clean up the river. In many places worldwide, the regular cleaning up of e.g. water sources: rivers, lakes, and oceans is necessary in order to keep them healthy.

Everything we do on this planet has an impact upon our environment, including Arctic rivers. When we pollute the environment, releasing toxins into the atmosphere and into our water sources these do suffer as a consequence. When (Arctic) rivers are impacted, these may either suffer due to erosion, change their natural and/or usual routes, or even worse, disappear completely within the blink of an eye. Scary. When drastic changes like these occur in our environment, we have to prepared to understand the significance of these changes upon the life in these rivers, but also all the life depending upon and surrounding these rivers. The price of these changes is immeasurable. In fact, there is no amount of money that can buy us back the environment that we have once the damage has been created.

Learn more about the impact of climate change on our environment, including rivers, by watching SmithsonianNMAI´s video "Impacts of Climate Change: Our Rivers and Coasts":

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