Rain on Snow

David Kuptana, an elder and full-time harvester said ice should be forming around his home on Victoria Island this time of year — but instead, temperatures have been hovering around zero and it's been raining.

“This new snow has no name,” said Lars-Anders Kuhmunen, a reindeer herder from Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost town, near the Norwegian border. “I don’t know what it is. It is like early tjaevi, which normally comes in March. The winters are warmer now and there is rain, making the ground icy. The snow on top is very bad snow and the reindeer can’t dig for their food.”

One key species that is being affected by climate change in the tundra is the lemming. Lemmings are small rodents that spend the winter under the snowpack, where it’s warm enough for them to survive and reproduce. The snowpack, in addition to insulating their food, also protects them from predators.

Because of the changeable weather an ice crust arose on the snow and reindeer could not get food on their own. Reindeer herders fed the main herd with compound feed. The dead reindeer, most likely, have strayed from the main herd.

Locals in the far northern Russian region believe between 60,000-80,000 animals might have died of starvation over the past few months. The tragedy follows the formation of a thick layer of ice across major parts of the Yamal tundra.

In the village of Seyakha on the Yamal Peninsula, from last November from 60 to 80 thousand reindeer have died. The animals, on which the survival of the indigenous people depends, cannot get food - the lichen is covered with an ice crust. What is the reason and why the locals are dissatisfied with the support of the authorities?

Sweden is to build up to a dozen bridges so reindeer can safely cross railway lines and major roads in the north of the country as global heating forces them to roam further afield in search of food.

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the occurrence of hail during the winter and early spring months. This type of weather is very unusual for this area. While our current experiences with hail have been mild, an increase in frequency and severity is cause for concern.

The Government of Nunavut is restricting harvest due to what it calls “a recent steep decline in the population” of the herd. That decline has led to a “conservation concern” about the western Nunavut herd’s numbers.

Hiila Inga is concerned about the health of his reindeer. His community herds 8000 head each year, between traditional grazing lands in the mountain and the forests further east.

1-20-14 Snow then rain - Shaktoolik, Alaska, USA

Sixty-one thousand reindeer starved to death in the northwestern reaches of the Russian tundra in November 2013 in the largest recorded mortality event of its kind.

Herders are struggling to find thousands of reindeer that have run away in search of food. "We are driving for hours and hours to locate our reindeers and to herd them back, but it has been very difficult in these wintry conditions. So, we are also using helicopters and this is very unusual - and very expensive too."