White spruce are spreading in the high north, thanks to extra snow. That “Arctic greening” has serious climate implications.
Anywhere else in the world, more trees would be a blessing. But in the far north of Alaska, they’re a reckoning. As the Arctic warms up to four times as fast as the rest of the planet, white spruce trees are now spreading into tundra that was once inhospitable. Bully for the white spruce, but not so much for the Arctic: Because the trees are darker than snow, they absorb more of the sun’s energy, potentially further heating the region and further driving dramatic change.
The bigger and bigger a seedling gets, the better and better its chances of making it. “Once it gets to be about waist high, it's going to live,” says Dial. “It's the little babies that don't survive.” Like a nice wool blanket can help a human baby stay warm and healthy, so too does a baby white spruce get protection from a blanket of snow.
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