NPR

Why the war in Ukraine is bad for climate science

The invasion of Ukraine hampered collaboration with Russian climate scientists. That's bad news for our collective ability to understand, and prepare for, a hotter planet.
People walk next to a cracked panel apartment building in the eastern Siberian city of Yakutsk in 2018. Climate change is causing permafrost, or permanently frozen ground, to thaw across the Arctic. When the earth thaws, it can destabilize building foundations, roads, pipelines and other infrastructure.

Lack of data about conditions in the Russian Arctic is already hampering climate science, and will cause ever-growing gaps in our understanding of how climate change affects the fastest-warming region of the planet, scientists warn.

The Arctic is warming up to four times faster than the Earth as a whole. And Russia has more Arctic land than any other nation. But, since Russia invaded Ukraine, it's been increasingly difficult for climate scientists in Russia to collaborate or share data about conditions in the

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
Trump VP Contender Kristi Noem Responds To Backlash Over Story About Killing Her Dog
The Republican South Dakota governor details what she says was a tough decision to shoot an "untrainable" family dog in a forthcoming memoir. Animal rights advocates and Democrats decried the move.
NPR4 min readAmerican Government
Gaza Protestors Picket White House Correspondents Dinner, As Biden Ribs Trump
The war in Gaza spurred large protests outside a glitzy roast with President Joe Biden, journalists, politicians and celebrities Saturday but went all but unmentioned by participants inside.
NPR5 min read
As National Poetry Month Comes To A Close, 2 New Retrospectives To Savor
April always brings some of the years' biggest poetry collections. So as it wraps up, we wanted to bring you two favorites — retrospective collections from Marie Howe and Jean Valentine.

Related Books & Audiobooks