A new study revealed that reindeer could help mitigate climate change by simply reducing the height and abundance of shrubs on the Arctic Tundra through grazing.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, showed that areas in the Arctic Tundra heavily grazed by reindeer experience increased levels of surface albedo, or the amount of shortwave radiation reflected by the Earth back into the space.
“Our results show that reindeer have a potential cooling effect on climate, by changing the summer albedo,” said lead author Dr Mariska te Beest, from Umeå University in Sweden, in a press release. “Although the estimated differences might appear small, they are large enough to have consequences…
