{"@type": "dcat:Dataset", "accessLevel": "public", "bureauCode": ["026:00"], "contactPoint": {"@type": "vcard:Contact", "fn": "Earthdata Forum", "hasEmail": "mailto:earthdata-support@nasa.gov"}, "description": "<em><a href=\" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G3BYJ2FS\">What Once Was Snow: Stories of Change, Adaptation, and Resilience in the Arctic</em></a> is an exploration of what it means to live in a world where one of the Arctic\u2019s most defining features\u2014snow\u2014is becoming more unpredictable. Blending storytelling with science and Indigenous Knowledge, the book chronicles the changing rhythms of Arctic life amid a warming climate, revealing both its vulnerability and resilience.\n<br>\nFor centuries, snow has been the Arctic\u2019s timekeeper, marking the cadence of life, migrations, and seasonal shifts. Its accumulation provides insulation for plants and animals, safe passage for travelers, and water during the spring thaw. Indigenous peoples have built languages, livelihoods, and worldviews in relationship with the annual cycle of the snow cover. But as the Arctic warms more than four times faster than the global average, rain-on-snow events disrupt ecosystems, isolate communities, and test the deep environmental knowledge of those who know the land best.\n<br>\nThrough a series of interconnected stories, <em>What Once Was Snow</em> introduces readers to herders, scientists, and families across the Arctic. Each chapter offers a grounded perspective on adaptation and survival in the face of environmental transformation. The book opens on Russia\u2019s Yamal Peninsula, where a devastating 2013 rain-on-snow event trapped pastures under ice, killing thousands of reindeer and threatening the Nenets people\u2019s nomadic way of life. From there, readers travel through Finland\u2019s herding communities, Greenland\u2019s sheep-farming settlements, and Alaska\u2019s reindeer herding families, each contending with new hazards, uncertain futures, and the need for creative adaptations.\n<br>\nThe book explores atmospheric and oceanic processes that drive these changes, explaining why Arctic amplification causes extreme weather patterns and unpredictable snow seasons. Interwoven throughout are reflections on language, knowledge, and observation: how the Nenets language encodes the subtle textures of snow; how Indigenous and community-based networks document local impacts; and how the co-production of knowledge between scientists and Indigenous experts can illuminate complex systems beyond the reach of any single discipline.\n<br>\nGuided by the Arctic Rain on Snow Study (AROSS)\u2014a multinational collaboration among institutions in the United States, Canada, and Finland\u2014<em>What Once Was Snow</em> captures a pivotal moment in Earth\u2019s history. It presents not only the biophysical dimensions of a rapidly changing Arctic but also the cultural, economic, and inter-generational implications of these transformations. The stories illustrate how the loss of predictable snow conditions ripples outward, affecting food security, transportation, animal welfare, and the cultural continuity of Arctic peoples.", "distribution": [{"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "conformsTo": "http://www.isotc211.org/2005/gmi", "description": "The metadata's original source.", "downloadURL": "https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/search/concepts/C3785533812-NSIDCV0.iso19115", "format": "ISO", "mediaType": "text/xml", "title": "Original Metadata"}, {"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.7265/nmqs-p182", "format": "HTML", "mediaType": "text/html"}, {"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "downloadURL": "https://nsidc.org/rain-on-snow/book", "format": "BIN", "mediaType": "application/octet-stream"}], "identifier": "10.7265/nmqs-p182", "keyword": ["earth-science-atmospheric-ocean-indicators-climate-indicators-extreme-weather", "earth-science-precipitation-atmosphere-liquid-precipitation", "earth-science-precipitation-atmosphere-precipitation-anomalies", "earth-science-precipitation-atmosphere-precipitation-profiles", "earth-science-precipitation-atmosphere-solid-precipitation", "earth-science-snow-ice-cryosphere", "earth-science-weather-events-atmosphere-rain-storms", "earth-science-weather-events-atmosphere-snow-storms", "earth-science-weather-events-atmosphere-weather-climate-advisories"], "license": "https://www.usa.gov/government-works", "modified": "2026-06-08", "programCode": ["026:000"], "publisher": {"@type": "org:Organization", "name": "NSIDC"}, "spatial": "[\"CARTESIAN\"]", "theme": ["Earth Science"], "title": "What Once Was Snow, Version 1"}