UK Arctic Terrestrial Research: Towards International Polar Year 2032/33 and Beyond: Research Strengths, Priorities and Implementation

The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average. On land and in freshwaters, this warming is having rapid and substantial impacts that threaten its ecosystems and change the way the Arctic stores carbon and releases greenhouse gases. These changes have direct consequences for the people that populate this special region of our planet, and for the rest of the world, because a warming Arctic amplifies global warming. It is especially concerning that the changes seen across the terrestrial Arctic are some of the clearest, largest and most widespread of changes caused by global warming seen in any region worldwide. Arctic scientists in the UK have long been at the forefront of understanding these changes, and that expertise is ready and organised to address the substantial challenges that lie ahead as the Arctic continues to warm and change at pace.