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Santa in trouble? Reindeer shrink as climate changes

トナカイの体重、温暖化で減少

Reindeer are shrinking on an Arctic island near the North pole in a side effect of climate change that has curbed winter food for the animal, scientists said on Dec. 12.

The average weight of a adult reindeer on Svalbard, a chain of islands north of Norway, has fallen to 48kg from 55kg in the 1990s, as port of sweeping changes to Arctic life as temperatures rise, they said.

The wild herd studied had expanded to about 1,400 animals from 800 since the 1990s.

\”So far we have more but smaller reindeer,\” said professor Steve Albon, an ecologist at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland who led the study.

The rising population also means more competition for scarce food in winter.

He noted that one popular children\’s book, Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs, showed a sleigh pulled by two reindeer.

If the animals are small and weaker, \”will two reindeer be sufficient?\” Albon asked.

ボキャブラリー説明

If you\’re interested in learning vocabulary through news and current affairs, check back every Saturday for another article!

The aim of the articles is to be short enough to easily digest, whilst still providing some important new words. Furthermore, we deliberately choose topics that you\’ve probably heard in the news already. This makes them relatable and easier to understand. Could you tell your teacher about this news story, in English? Try to practice recounting the story, or even rewriting it in your own words. Afterwards, you can show it to your teacher for correction. Additionally, you could also try a translation of the article. This is an intellectually stimulating exercise which is both fun and great practice for understanding the different ways of thinking between English and Japanese. Finally, please remember to have fun learning English! The most rewarding thing for us at Michael\’s English School is seeing your results. See you next time!