Arctic Temperature Alarm

Air temperature in the Arctic was -19.25°C on 2023-03-23. This is 0.15°C higher than 90th percentile of climatology period... READ MORE

Arctic Temperature Alarm

Air temperature in the Arctic was -19.28°C on 2023-03-22. This is 0.27°C higher than 90th percentile of climatology period... READ MORE

It’s now or never – IPCC 6th Assessment Report released today

Today the final synthesis of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 6th Assessment Report cycle was released. This synthesis report restates that it is "now or never" to act, and that we are well on... READ MORE

Arctic sea ice maximum extent likely 5th lowest on record

Arctic sea ice has likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.62 million square kilometres (5.64 million square miles) on March 6, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at... READ MORE

Record-breaking cyclone brings further decimation to world’s #1 climate vulnerable country

Tropical cyclone Freddy is set to make more international records--including possibly one for the longest-lasting storm, later this... READ MORE

COUNTDOWN

CO2 Budget Depletion

09 Mar 2023 | Greenland

Flip-flops in Greenland?

We’ve been following a warming spell in Greenland for a while, alerting about its strengthening last week and also touching upon it earlier this week in conjunction with the freeze in northern Europe. It has only gotten worse, and this has significant repercussions for the entire globe.

It’s not even the Arctic melt season and temperatures have already soared more than 50F above normal in some parts of Greenland. The capital, Nuuk, saw temperatures peak at 59.4F (15.2C) last Sunday – far warmer than the city’s average high of 23F (-5C) for this time of year, according to the Danish Meteorological Institute. Temperatures in the northern part of the country, however, are where the even scarier anomalies have appeared – there it has been between 30-50F (17-28C) above what is expected for this time of year.

Why is this occurring?
This warmth is actually related to the same reason that the UK is currently in snow warnings! What is occurring is a phenomenon commonly known as a ‘Greenland block’, an area of high pressure that hangs over Greenland and causes the air below it to warm. This block is the result of an earlier disruption to the polar vortex, known as a sudden stratospheric warming event (SSW). This same SSW that is leading to flip-flop weather in Greenland is causing parka weather in the UK.

So what does this mean for the summer melt season? For the climate crisis?
Not only are shoulder-season warming events indicative of the worsening climate crisis, but such pre-season warming can “precondition for earlier melts [because] if the temperature of the existing snow is higher than it would otherwise be, there is less heat required to bring it to the melting point” according to Arctic Basecamp Scientist and Greenland specialist, Jason Box. Although not on scale with a mid-season melt, it is the largest melt episode for this time of year in more than 20 years.

A strong winter snowpack is one of the best precautions against summer melt on the island that is currently the largest contributor to global sea level rise. As its snow and ice melt, its ability to reflect incoming solar radiation is reduced, thereby more heat is absorbed and ultimately trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere. Even if all emissions were to cease immediately, Greenland is still expected to lose 3% of its mass, leading to a global average of 27cm (10”) of sea level rise.

LATEST NEWS & ALERTS

ARCTIC RISK INDICATORS

The following gauges show up-to-date data regarding key indicators in the Arctic. These indicators clearly point to the crisis at hand.

Greenland rate of ice loss
4.5 hundred thousands l/s
on average in 1986-2015
4.5 tons per second
on average in 1986-2015
Worldwide number of disasters
265 disasters
more events in 2022 in comparison to 1970s
183 disasters
more events in 2022 in comparison to 1980s
100 disasters
more events in 2022 in comparison to 1990s
Arctic Sea Ice Extent
1,060,750 km²
below 1981-2010 average on 26-Mar-2023
409,555 mi²
below 1981-2010 average on 26-Mar-2023
Arctic Amplification
2.81 times
faster than global average in last 30 years
2.59 times
faster than global average in last 50 years
2.49 times
faster than global average in last 70 years
Arctic Wildfire emissions
0.19 megatonnes CO₂e
CO₂e emissions in 2023 so far
Arctic Air Quality (PM2.5)
2.72 microgram per cubic meter
on 21-Mar-2023