The article presents and briefly analyses the issue of the European Union’s perspective on the problems of the climate change in the Arctic region and its geopolitical consequences. Offering an overview of the main documents in this area, the article concludes that the EU policy towards the Arctic is closely related with perceiving the climate change in polar regions not only in terms of new possibilities, but also as a source of new threats for the international environment.
Rapid climate changes which have been observed over the recent years in both polar regions of the Earth, directly or indirectly affect vegetation dynamics. This article presents the main directions of the changes taking place in the recent years in tundra communities of both polar regions, based on original research carried out in the Arctic in Spitsbergen and in the maritime Antarctic on King George Island.