Arctic Temperature Alarm

Air temperature in the Arctic was -19.13°C on 2023-03-25. This is 0.32°C higher than 90th percentile of climatology period... READ MORE

Arctic Temperature Alarm

Air temperature in the Arctic was -19.12°C on 2023-03-24. This is 0.09°C higher than 90th percentile of climatology period... READ MORE

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

COUNTDOWN

CO2 Budget Depletion

15 Feb 2023

UN Secretary General warns of mass exodus of entire populations

UN Secretary General, António Guterres, is again not mincing words when he spoke about the ‘torrent of trouble’ facing a billion people that could yield ‘a mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale’ when he addressed the UN Security Council this week.

Our failures to act on the climate crisis have triggered a trajectory of sea level rise that is greater than anything in several thousand years. This rise has already rendered places uninhabitable and more low-lying regions are being consumed for good. We’re already seeing conflicts over increasingly scarce resources, and tensions over migrations. It’s not just about losing land and fresh water, though. It affects everything we know. Just looking at the social implications, Prof Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary General concludes that “sea level rise imposes risks to economies, livelihoods, settlements, health, wellbeing, food and water security and cultural values in the near to long term.”

While the Pacific islands might be the first thing that comes to mind when pondering sea level rise, the Arctic is the key driver. Did you know that Greenland is currently the largest contributor to global sea level rise and contains the potential of 7.4m (>24 feet) of rise? Antarctica is the proverbial sleeping giant, starting to wake. Research published in Nature by Arctic Basecamp scientists highlights the destabilization of Greenland caused through the continued pumping of emissions into our atmosphere that has committed a minimum average of 27cm of heightened water levels.

We have the power for this not to be our future. We must cut emissions urgently. Beyond emissions, however, we need to look at the SDGs. Did you know that the Arctic’s global climate influence means it is pivotal to achieving the SDGs? Gender, poverty, education, food security, they are all key to surviving the Incoming Tide.

Check out Arcticrisk.org to understand how these all link up! Especially our new work on climate vulnerable countries and SDGs.

Image credit: Wikimedia

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
1,043,499 km²
below 1981-2010 average on 28-Mar-2023
402,895 mi²
below 1981-2010 average on 28-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