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Arctic: Rain could replace snow by end of the century

A graphic example of the impact of climate change in the Arctic has been published, which warns that there could end up being more rainfall than snowfall in the region. 

Michelle McCrystal, the lead author of the report, from the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba, says that rain will replace snow as the Arctic’s most common precipitation as the planet’s northern ice cap warms. This could happen before the end of the century if the world warms by three degrees - but if global temperatures rises keep within 1.5 degrees, the Arctic will remain "snow dominated". The impacts of these could be the release of more carbon from the area as the ice melts and the earth warms, and rising sea levels as the Greenland ice sheets melt.

Photo: Dogs pull a sleigh on the west of Greenland Credit: Getty Images

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