Regional Hotspots of Change in Northern High Latitudes Informed by Observations From Space
Abstract The high latitudes cover ∼20% of Earth's land surface. This region is facing many shifts in thermal, moisture and vegetation properties, driven by climate warming. Here we leverage remote sensing and climate reanalysis records to improve understanding of changes in ecosystem indicators. We applied non‐parametric trend detections and Getis‐Ord Gi* spatial hotspot assessments. We found substantial terrestrial warming trends across Siberia, portions of Greenland, Alaska, and western Canada. The same regions showed increases in vapor pressure deficit; changes in precipitation and soil moisture were variable. Vegetation greening and browning were widespread across both continents. Browning of the boreal zone was especially evident in autumn. Multivariate hotspot analysis indicated that Siberian ecoregions have experienced substantial, simultaneous, changes in thermal, moisture and vegetation status. Finally, we found that using regionally‐based trends alone, without local assessments, can yield largely incomplete views of high‐latitude change.
Authors
- Brendan M. Rogers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6711-8466)
- Jennifer D. Watts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7207-8999)
- Frans‐Jan W. Parmentier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2952-7706)
- Tatiana A. Shestakova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5605-0299)
- Jinyang Du (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8698-6696)
- Kevin Butler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7498-4239)
- Stefano Potter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5141-3409)
- Kyle A. Arndt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4158-2054)
- Arden Burrell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8762-1296)
- Greg Fiske (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6609-4239)
- J. M. Grayson
- Anna‐Maria Virkkala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4877-2918)
- Susan M. Natali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3010-2994)
- Youngwook Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0697-2575)
- Bob Gerlt
Institutions
- Abu Dhabi University (AE)
- Environmental Systems Research Institute (United States) (US)
- Woodwell Climate Research Center (US)
- Universitat de Lleida (ES)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- United Arab Emirates University (AE)
- Numerical Method (China) (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-01-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl108081
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Climate change and permafrost
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.20
Funders
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Generalitat de Catalunya