Confirmed: 2023 set to be the warmest year on record

The WMO provisional State of the Global Climate report confirms that 2023 is set to be the warmest year on record, regardless of the final two months of... READ MORE

Colossal Antarctic iceberg, five times larger than New York City, breaks free and drifts away from region

On November 24th, scientists from the Bristish Antarctic Survey (BAS) were astonished to observe an iceberg measuring around 4,000 square kilometers (more than twice the size of Greater London) drifting away from the... READ MORE

World surpasses critical warming threshold for the first time

On November 17th, global temperatures reached 2.07°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time on record.... READ MORE

Unexpected disintegration of ice shelves in North Greenland

Alarm bells ringing as rapid disintegration and weakening of ice shelves in North Greenland is observed!... READ MORE

Three Icebergs break off West Antarctica’s most Endangered Glacier

Images recently posted in the Arctic Sea Ice Forum reveal three significant breakups, or calving events, in mid-October on Pine Island Glacier’s floating ice shelf in West... 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
13 million l/s
on average
13 million tonnes/s
on average
Arctic Sea Ice Extent
1,411,250 km²
below 1981-2010 average on 01-Dec-2023
544,883 mi²
below 1981-2010 average on 01-Dec-2023
Arctic Amplification
4 times
faster than global average
Arctic 66N+ Wildfire emissions
25,092.70 megatonnes CO₂e
CO₂e emissions in 2023 so far
Arctic Air Quality (PM2.5)
1.24 microgram per cubic meter
on 02-Dec-2023
Global mean Sea Level
3.4mm/year
since 1993