Missing Russian Data Hampers Arctic Climate Change Research
The halt in data release from Russian Arctic monitoring stations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to significant gaps in global understanding of climate change.
- Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to a halt in the release of data from Russian Arctic monitoring stations, creating a significant gap in climate change research.
- The Arctic is warming between two and four times faster than the rest of the planet, and the lack of data from Russia, which represents almost half the landmass of the entire Arctic region, is causing an underestimation of biomass and soil organic carbon.
- Researchers used data from around 60 research stations, part of the INTERACT network, to study the impact of the missing Russian data on understanding of Arctic changes.
- Even before the conflict in Ukraine, the network had gaps, with stations concentrated in warmer, wetter areas, leaving other areas under-represented. The absence of Russian data has increased this bias.
- Scientists suggest treating key climate metrics the same way weather data is, and propose a United Nations system to ensure continuous monitoring.
Newsweek 
Scientific American 
