In the Arctic, More Rain May Mean Fewer Musk Oxen

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/science/musk-oxen-climate-change.html

Source:  By Carl Zimmer, The New York Times

Excerpt: ...Dr. Berger has studied musk oxen in Alaska for nearly a decade, and on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, he and his colleagues reported a disturbing finding: Musk oxen are unexpectedly vulnerable to rapid climate change in the Arctic. In a warming landscape, pregnant female musk oxen may struggle to find enough food for their unborn calves, the researchers found. Their undersized offspring may die young or fail to produce many calves of their own. In places, musk oxen may disappear altogether. The study is the first to suggest a strong link between increasing winter rainfall and the declining health of Arctic mammals, said R. Terry Bowyer, a senior research scientist at the Institute of Arctic Biology in Fairbanks, Alaska, who was not involved in the research. ...These findings are more worrisome because of the drastic change humans are bringing to the climate. The Arctic itself is warming at twice the average global rate.... 

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