Climate change causes warmest Arctic summer

THE Arctic saw its warmest-ever summer in 2023, the result of accelerating human-caused climate change that is pushing ecosystems and the people that depend on them into uncharted territory, according to an official report Tuesday.

Average summer surface air temperature from the months of July to September was 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6.4 degrees Celsius), the highest since records began in 1900.

The Arctic is warming roughly four times faster than the rest of the planet, primarily as a result of a vicious cycle of sea ice loss in a phenomenon called Arctic Amplification.

«The overriding message from this year's report card is that the time for action is now,» National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement.

«We as a nation and global community must dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are driving these changes.»

Average summer temperatures have been rising 0.31F (0.17C) per decade.

Overall, it was the Arctic's sixth-warmest year, at 20F (-7C).

Now in its 18th year, the NOAA Arctic Report Card is the work of 82 authors across 13 countries.

Observations from this year's report emphasize an ongoing trend line of warming sea and air temperatures, decreasing snow cover, diminishing sea ice and continued melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Wildfires

But the year also brought high-impact events that had the «clear signature» of climate change.

While the Arctic is growing wetter, there are distinct regional and seasonal differences, co-author Tom Ballinger of the University of Alaska Fairbanks told reporters.

«For example, a wet winter characterized portions of Alaska, though a dry spring was observed over western Eurasia, and northern Canada was impacted by a dry summer,» he said.

Warm, dry summer conditions across northern Canada, combined with early snowmelt, contributed to the Canadian Arctic experiencing its worst wildfire season on record, causing the evacuation of 20,000 people from the town of Yellowknife in August.

Also in August, a glacial lake near Juneau, Alaska, burst through its dam, causing massive flooding and property damage along the Mendenhall River as a result of two decades of glacial thinning.

Fisher