Findings produced at the annual meeting of the British Ecological Society (BES) have warned the world that celebrating Christmas may become a thing of the past if steps are not taken to arrest the declining of the iconic reindeer population.
Scientists and researchers said that in the past decade 80,000 reindeers have starved to death due to global warming damaging their icy arctic environment. "Warmer weather brings more rain. This rain leads to more ice, and then it's harder for reindeer to get food through the thick cover of ice. This leads to stunted babies, or miscarriages" a report in The Telegraph quoted the study, as saying.
"While I doubt we will see the extinction of reindeer across their circumpolar range, Santa may need more to pull the laden sleigh," researcher Steve Albon said he worried about this development.
Since 1994, ecologists have measured the reindeer in the Arctic. Data has shown that the weight of adult reindeer have shrunk by about 12 percent over the years. They were about 106 pounds in 2010, compared to 121 pounds back when they first started measuring.
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