{"id":13978,"date":"2020-12-10T22:19:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T22:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2020\/12\/10\/in-15th-arctic-report-card-prof-karen-frey-documents-changes-impacting-base-of-arctics-food-web\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T09:48:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:48:57","slug":"in-15th-arctic-report-card-prof-karen-frey-documents-changes-impacting-base-of-arctics-food-web","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2020\/12\/10\/in-15th-arctic-report-card-prof-karen-frey-documents-changes-impacting-base-of-arctics-food-web\/","title":{"rendered":"In 15th Arctic Report Card, Prof. Karen Frey documents changes impacting base of Arctic\u2019s food web"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

Decline in sea ice leads to increased algae blooms, geographer finds<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n Geography Professor Karen Frey contributed to the 15th Arctic Report Card, examining how climate warming and sea ice decline have led to greater algae growth in the polar regions.\n

 <\/p>\n

Climate change continues to disrupt the polar region, with second-highest on record air temperatures and second-lowest on record summer sea-ice driving a cascade of impacts, including the loss of snow and extraordinary wildfires in northern Russia. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a> (NOAA) this week released its 15th annual Arctic Report Card<\/a>, which documents the sustained transformation to a warmer, less frozen, and biologically changed Arctic.<\/p>\n

Clark University polar scientist Karen Frey<\/a>, professor and associate director of the Graduate School of Geography<\/a>, is among the 133 scientists from 15 countries who contributed to the NOAA report, which was released Dec. 8 during a virtual press conference hosted by the American Geophysical Union, as part of its fall meeting. Frey is the lead author of “Arctic Ocean Primary Productivity: The Response of Marine Algae to Climate Warming and Sea Ice Decline<\/a>,” which documents an unusually high level of biological activity in the Arctic Ocean this year.<\/p>\n

\"Karen
Karen Frey on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir Wilfrid Laurier in the Bering Sea, July 2019. (Photo: Shea Wyatt)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The vast majority of the Arctic Ocean has experienced clear, long-term trends of warming over the past several decades, leading to declining sea ice and increased marine plant growth,” says Professor Frey. “In 2020, in particular, we saw increases in summertime algae growth in the Laptev Sea north of Siberia — associated with declining sea ice and warming seawater temperatures throughout the region. All of these changes in algae growth have impacts on the entire food web including food security for human populations.”<\/p>\n

Highlights of Professor Frey’s research include:\n<\/p>\n