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

UN SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT GOALS

SDG 4 - QUALITY EDUCATION

 

A warming Arctic is linked with stronger storms. Extreme rainfall is associated with poorer cognitive ability, lower rates of school enrolment and increases in child labour. The Arctic increases the risk of heatwaves, and heat-exposed students are less likely to receive quality education. Access to quality education is a longterm struggle in many Arctic communities. 

GLOBAL

Extreme weather events disrupt access to quality education, thereby reducing academic outcomes. Extreme weather events exacerbated by Arctic warming can lead to loss of education material and infrastructure, injury or death of students and teachers, and psychosocial stress.  

 Worldwide, children from the wealthiest households are five times more likely than children from the poorest households to finish primary school (Randell and Grey, 2019). The warming Arctic is intrinsically linked with more powerful monsoons and global heating around the world. In countries such as Vietnam, Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso, such extreme rainfall has been linked to poorer cognitive ability, lower rates of school enrollment and increases in child labor (Ibid.). Elsewhere, heat-exposed students are less likely to receive quality education. Park et al., (2020) document the negative impact of higher temperatures on student testing.

ARCTIC

Throughout history, the educational systems across the Arctic nations were central to assimilating Indigenous People, largely through erasing their cultural and linguistic practices. In Canada, over 1.000 unmarked Indigenous children’s graves have been found on the lands of former residential schools. Today few qualified teachers, high staff turnover, lack of infrastructure and long commutes contribute to poor quality of education and low school attendance rates in the Arctic. Only 39 percent of the Nunavut population completes high school, dramatically lower than the Canadian average of 78.3 percent (Rodon et al., 2014). 

BACK TO SDG PAGE

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