The tundra, a characteristic vegetation of Arctic regions, is experiencing rapid expansion, a phenomenon that has taken hold since the beginning of the last century. This is the result of an international study coordinated by the National Research Council's Institute of Polar Sciences (CNR-ISP), in collaboration with such prestigious institutes as the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Eni CNR Joint Research Center. Published in the journal Nature Communication Earth & Environment, the research shows a direct link between the expansion of tundra and the reduction of sea ice cover, as well as the retreat of glaciers. "Through the analysis of chemical signatures in a marine sedimentary archive in the Svalbard Islands, we have detected signs of a significant change in tundra cover, correlating with anthropogenic warming over the past 100 years," says Tommaso Tesi, CNR-ISP researcher and study coordinator. This work represents the first reconstruction linking sea ice decline and glacier retreat with increased vegetation in Svalbard. The significant decline in sea ice since 1900 has coincided with an increase in terrestrial vegetation, signaling a major expansion of tundra in areas once covered by ice. The results indicate that tundra expansion peaked in the 1990s, coinciding with accelerating global warming and the rapid collapse of the Arctic cryosphere.