Light is flooding into the Arctic. There will be winners and losers.
That’s what brought an international group of scientists to the Barents Sea to investigate how plant and animal life will adapt to the new normal.
Two key factors that govern the Arctic ecosystem are rapidly changing: ice and light. The Arctic is the fastest-warming place on earth, and ice that used to form on the surface of the ocean is vanishing. That’s threatening species large and small that rely on it, but it’s also created an opportunity. Less ice means more light reaches the underwater ecosystem, benefiting the algae that anchor it as well as apex predators like whales and seals.
(To learn more, watch the video above.)
This video is part of a three-part series on the changing Arctic. Thanks to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for supporting Thaw. You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube. Subscribe and stay tuned for more.
Footage and story made possible by Interdependent Pictures’ documentary film Into the Dark, coming in 2019.
