New signs of global warming in Russian Arctic

The Russian Arctic is losing ice cover and being inhabited by species from the south in the latest sign of climate change, according to a group of Russian scientists. The scientists spent three months in the Arctic's Franz Josef Land. "We have explored 42 of the archipelago's 191 islands and concluded a reduction of the ice sheet from the last Soviet expeditions in 1957," said head of the expedition Maria Gavrilo, an ornithologist.
Her group of eight scientists, including experts in paleography and geomorphology, as well as zoologists and botanists, charted new maps of the archipelago, listing its rare species. As the biggest Arctic nation, Russia has recently stepped up exploration, specifically aiming to expand its energy production by tapping into the vast reserves of the Arctic shelf.