Arctic reindeer populations decline as climate change creates ice barriers to winter food sources

Arctic reindeer are facing an unexpected threat from climate change that’s dramatically impacting their ability to survive harsh winters. As global temperatures rise, these iconic animals are struggling with a cruel irony: warmer weather is actually making it harder for them to find food.

For centuries, reindeer have thrived in the Arctic by using their specially evolved hooves to dig through snow and access the lichen and moss that sustain them through winter months. However, rising temperatures are creating more frequent rain-on-snow events, where precipitation falls as rain rather than snow during winter storms. When this rain hits existing snow cover, it melts the surface layer, which then refreezes into a thick, impenetrable ice crust.

New research analyzing climate data from 1960 onward reveals a clear pattern: warmer Arctic winters are producing significantly more of these destructive rain-on-snow events. Scientists compared six decades of weather records with reindeer population data from Norway and Finland, discovering a troubling correlation between icy winters and declining birth rates the following summer.

The impact is significant – reindeer herds that endure winters with multiple rain-on-snow events show measurably lower reproduction rates, as malnourished animals struggle to successfully breed and raise calves. This research highlights how climate change effects can be counterintuitive, with warming temperatures paradoxically creating harsher survival conditions for Arctic wildlife. The findings underscore the complex ways global warming is disrupting ecosystems, threatening species that have adapted to traditional Arctic conditions over thousands of years.