Farmers’ Perspective on Agriculture and Environmental Change in the Circumpolar North of Europe and America

Abstract

Climate change may increase the importance of agriculture in the global Circumpolar North with potentially critical implications for pristine northern ecosystems and global biogeochemical cycles. With this in mind, a global online survey was conducted to understand northern agriculture and farmers’ perspective on environmental change north of 60° N. In the obtained dataset with 67 valid answers, Alaska and the Canadian territories were dominated by small-scale vegetable, herbs, hay, and flower farms; the Atlantic Islands were dominated by sheep farms; and Fennoscandia was dominated by cereal farming. In Alaska and Canada, farmers had mostly immigrated with hardly any background in farming, while farmers in Fennoscandia and on the Atlantic Islands mostly continued family traditions. Accordingly, the average time since conversion from native land was 28 ± 28 and 25 ± 12 years in Alaska and Canada, respectively, but 301 ± 291 and 255 ± 155 years on the Atlantic Islands and in Fennoscandia, respectively, revealing that American northern agriculture is expanding. Climate change was observed by 84% of all farmers, of which 67% have already started adapting their farming practices, by introducing new varieties or altering timings. Fourteen farmers reported permafrost on their land, with 50% observing more shallow permafrost on uncultivated land than on cultivated land. Cultivation might thus accelerate permafrost thawing, potentially with associated consequences for biogeochemical cycles and greenhouse gas emissions. About 87% of the surveyed farmers produced for the local market, reducing emissions of food transport. The dynamics of northern land-use change and agriculture with associated environmental changes should be closely monitored. The dataset is available for further investigations.

Agriculture and land use in the North of Russia: Case study of Karelia and Yakutia

“…C. Poeplau et al [45] determine that global drivers may not be the only factors that foster land use change in the Circumpolar North; regional drivers may also play a role (e.g., imported food is quite expensive and lack in quality, thus increasing the demand for locally grown food in remote areas). This matches with our findings for Karelia and Yakutia.…”

Climate change research and action must look beyond 2100

“…Even before 2100, projections of climate change suggest low income (tropical) countries are vulnerable to reduced crop suitability, and high income countries face challenges with inward migration and converting climatically-suitable land to agriculture [81][82][83] . Such shifts also bring risks of soil carbon release, incursion into biodiversity hotspots, and threats to water security 83,84 .…”

“…Even before 2100, projections of climate change suggest low income (tropical) countries are vulnerable to reduced crop suitability, and high income countries face challenges with inward migration and converting climatically-suitable land to agriculture [81][82][83] . Such shifts also bring risks of soil carbon release, incursion into biodiversity hotspots, and threats to water security 83,84 . Over the long-term, proposed strategies for food security, even those considered transformative 47,85 such as meatless diets and urban farming, may be insufficient if present agricultural areas fall out of production and technological advancements or landscape management (e.g.…”

“…The inclusion of these factors will likely improve model predictions 130 . Our models may be best case scenarios for high latitudes, since there is very little research on the viability of large scale circumpolar agriculture in available soil types, including potential for CO2 release 83 . These variables were not included in our modelling exercise because they are difficult to project into the distant future (i.e.…”

Degradation of Arable Soils in Central Yakutia: Negative Consequences of Global Warming for Yedoma Landscapes

“…The rise in temperature in the northern high-latitude regions has been 2.5 times faster than on the entire Earth (IPCC, 2014). This phenomenon has attracted the attention of specialists in agriculture sending them in search of new opportunities for sustainable farming in these traditionally poorly cultivated areas both in the entire Circumpolar North (Poeplau et al, 2019) and in its particular regions (Stevenson et al, 2014;Lader et al, 2019). Some tendencies of the development of agriculture in cold regions seem to be very optimistic; thus, in 2012-2017, the number of farms in Alaska increased by up to 30% (Crampton, 2019).…”