Nancy Maynard on satellite help for Arctic reindeer herds
Reindeer are at the center of Sámi culture, and warmer temperatures and changing conditions are making it harder for them to survive. Photo: Inger Marie Gaup Eira, EALAT.org
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International Polar Year is turning reindeer herders into scientists. As the indigenous Sámi people migrate across the Norweigan Arctic with their herds, they’re also taking measurements and collecting data about snow.
It’s a part of a project called EALAT, which studies the reindeer herders’ vulnerability to climate change. Reindeer are at the center of Sámi culture, and warmer temperatures and changing conditions are making it harder for them to survive.
Earth & Sky’s Lindsay Patterson spoke to Nancy Maynard, a scientist at the NASA Goddard Center for Space Flight. Maynard has been working with scientists at the Sámi University College in Norway to combine her satellite observations with the on-the-ground information from the herders.
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