--- title: Climate Change Is Starving North Pole Reindeer description: Scientists say while there are more reindeer, they are much smaller in size canonical: https://time.com/4597865/climate-change-is-starving-north-pole-reindeer/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-12T17:35:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:15:32.840Z article:section: Science og:title: Climate Change Is Starving North Pole Reindeer og:description: Scientists say while there are more reindeer, they are much smaller in size. og:url: https://time.com/4597865/climate-change-is-starving-north-pole-reindeer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19694180c92116a2/6988b29c97cdff07986aedd5/gettyimages-608181139.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Sami Reindeer Herding og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Climate Change Is Starving North Pole Reindeer twitter:description: Scientists say while there are more reindeer, they are much smaller in size. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19694180c92116a2/6988b29c97cdff07986aedd5/gettyimages-608181139.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Climate Change Is Starving North Pole Reindeer ## Video: 323 Reindeer Killed by Bolt of Lightning in Norway [Watch (HLS stream): 323 Reindeer Killed by Bolt of Lightning in Norway](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kb96s8oC.m3u8) (0:44)  _Published 2016-08-29. A single lightning strike is believed to have killed more than 300 reindeer in Norway._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 12, 2016 5:35 PM UTC  Reindeer feeding on food pellets brought by Sami herders, Norwegian Arctic, January 27th, 2016\. Scott Wallace—Getty Images Reindeer feeding on food pellets brought by Sami herders, Norwegian Arctic, January 27th, 2016\. Scott Wallace—Getty ImagesScott Wallace—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 12, 2016 5:35 PM UTC Climate change is impacting [the amount of food available for reindeer](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/12/reindeer-shrink-as-climate-change-in-arctic-puts-their-food-on-ice) on a chain of islands near the North Pole. Because of the diminishing amount of food available, scientists say the average weight of reindeer on Svalbard, located just north of Norway, has dropped from 55kg, or 121 lbs, to 48kg, or 106 lbs. The [_Guardian_ ](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/12/reindeer-shrink-as-climate-change-in-arctic-puts-their-food-on-ice)reports the reindeer are losing access to plants because warmer winter temps mean less snowfall. Without snow, the precipitation that falls is often rain which eventually freezes the ground; the ice sheets serve as a barrier between the reindeer and their food. The changes in temperature also mean reindeer have more food in the warmer months, a change that has led to a population boom. So while the reindeer are smaller, there are more of them. “Warmer summers are great for reindeer but winters are getting increasingly tough,” the [_Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/12/reindeer-shrink-as-climate-change-in-arctic-puts-their-food-on-ice) reports Professor Steve Albon, an who led the reindeer study in conjunction with Norwegian researchers, said. “So far we have more but smaller reindeer.” The [_Christian Science Monitor_](http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/1212/Rising-Arctic-temperatures-mean-more-but-smaller-reindeer) reports the past decade has been hard on the reindeer population. In 2006 and 2013, the _Monitor_ says, over 80,000 reindeer died of starvation linked to warm winters. \[[_Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/12/reindeer-shrink-as-climate-change-in-arctic-puts-their-food-on-ice)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4597865/climate-change-is-starving-north-pole-reindeer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4597865/climate-change-is-starving-north-pole-reindeer/"},"headline":"Climate Change Is Starving North Pole Reindeer","datePublished":"2016-12-12T17:35:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:15:32.840Z","description":"Scientists say while there are more reindeer, they are much smaller in size","url":"https://time.com/4597865/climate-change-is-starving-north-pole-reindeer/","keywords":["climate change","global warming","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19694180c92116a2/6988b29c97cdff07986aedd5/gettyimages-608181139.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19694180c92116a2/6988b29c97cdff07986aedd5/gettyimages-608181139.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sami Reindeer Herding","caption":"Sami Reindeer Herding","creditText":"Scott Wallace—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4597865/climate-change-is-starving-north-pole-reindeer/","name":"Climate Change Is Starving North Pole Reindeer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"323 Reindeer Killed by Bolt of Lightning in Norway","description":"A single lightning strike is believed to have killed more than 300 reindeer in Norway.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kb96s8oC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-08-29T13:04:09.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kb96s8oC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4597865/climate-change-is-starving-north-pole-reindeer/","duration":"PT44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4597865/climate-change-is-starving-north-pole-reindeer/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```