MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. Common vipers, grey herons and several species of spiders are expanding habitats due to warming in the Arctic, press service of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Clean Arctic - Vostok-77 expedition told TASS.
"We collect data from local residents whom we have attracted to long-term monitoring groups. Reporters have nicknamed them "scientific guerrillas." Their task is to send us photos or videos of animals that are not typical for their areas. We have received information from the Yamal Peninsula, Yakutia, the Khanty-Mansi Region, and Taymyr. To the north from regular habitats have been seen grey heron, several species of spiders as well as the common viper," the expedition's scientific secretary, Oksana Tolstykh, said.
Right now, it wouldn’t be right to speak about the mass migration of animals from the middle zone to the Arctic. Several warming regions are being formed, and there animals are developing areas that earlier were cold for them. For example, the heron in the Krasnoyarsk and Yakutia Regions has been settling far to the North, but its new habitat looks like two narrow bands - "petal thawing". According to the expert, scientists may identify clear boundaries of those "petals" narrowing to the north, and therefore likewise are narrowing boundaries of the areas with higher risks of destructing structures on permafrost.
In the changing climate, the forest boundary has been shifting to the north, and conifers gradually have been replaced by deciduous trees. The entire ecosystem, flora and fauna are being transformed, the Nature and People Foundation's Director General Sergey Rybakov added.
"This change will affect human life in those areas, from atypical plants, insects and animals to changing weather conditions, which clearly will affect our population's welfare and health. It is important to realize it, it is critical to be prepared for such changes - in fact, it is necessary to get adapted to climate change effects, to take care of our common future," he told TASS.