Swedish researchers: Arctic and sub-Arctic mammals "positively affected" by global warming

Arctic mammals have reason to rejoice. A team of Swedish researchers has found that they will be "positively affected" by projected global warming:

Researchers from Umeå University in Sweden have discovered that mammals living in the Arctic and sub-Arctic land areas in northern Europe could be positively affected by climate change between now and 2080 - if they succeed in adjusting their geographic ranges. Presented in the journal PLOS ONE, the study showed how changing climates help drive shifts in species distributions and extinctions, and range contractions and expansions. The researchers postulate that such changes will only increase in the future. 

The researchers modelled the distribution of species, finding that the majority of mammals living in these specific areas will not suffer from the changes predicted for the next 68 years.

The Umeå University researchers should be congratulated for daring to publish these "inconvenient" results. However, knowing the people who decide about science funding in Sweden - and the EU in general - their chances of getting new research money have most  likely not increased. 

Read the entire article here