[Vision2020] Team of 69 International Scientists: Arctic Continues to Warm at Unprecedented Rate

[Ted Moffett]

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20101021_arcticreportcard.html

Arctic Report Card: Region Continues to Warm at Unprecedented Rate

Record temperatures in Greenland, thinning sea ice, record snow cover
decreases and links to some Northern Hemisphere weather are among
dramatic changes

October 21, 2010

The Arctic region, also called the “planet’s refrigerator,” continues
to heat up, affecting local populations and ecosystems as well as
weather patterns in the most populated parts of the Northern
Hemisphere, according to a team of 69 international scientists. The
findings were released today in the Arctic Report Card, a yearly
assessment of Arctic conditions.

Among the 2010 highlights:

Greenland is experiencing record-setting high temperatures, ice melt
and glacier area loss;

Summer sea ice continues to decline — the 2009-2010 summer sea ice
cover extent was the third lowest since satellite monitoring began in
1979, and sea ice thickness continues to thin. The 2010 minimum is the
third lowest recorded since 1979, surpassed only by 2008 and the
record low of 2007; and

Arctic snow cover duration was at a record minimum since
record-keeping began in 1966.

There is also evidence that the effect of higher air temperatures in
the Arctic atmosphere in fall is contributing to changes in the
atmospheric circulation in both the Arctic and northern mid-latitudes.
Winter 2009-2010 showed a link between mid-latitude extreme cold and
snowy weather events and changes in the wind patterns of the Arctic,
related to a phase of the Arctic Oscillation.

“To quote one of my NOAA colleagues, ‘whatever is going to happen in
the rest of the world happens first, and to the greatest extent, in
the Arctic,’” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D, under secretary of commerce
for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “Beyond affecting
the humans and wildlife that call the area home, the Arctic’s warmer
temperatures and decreases in permafrost, snow cover, glaciers and sea
ice also have wide-ranging consequences for the physical and
biological systems in other parts of the world. The Arctic is an
important driver of climate and weather around the world and serves as
a critical feeding and breeding ground that supports globally
significant populations of birds, mammals and fish.”

In 2006, NOAA’s Climate Program Office introduced the annual Arctic
Report Card, which established a baseline of conditions at the
beginning of the 21st century to monitor the quickly changing
conditions in the Arctic. Using a color-coded system of “red” to
indicate consistent evidence of warming and “yellow” to show that
warming impacts are occurring in many climate indicators and species,
the Report Card is updated annually in October and tracks the Arctic
atmosphere, sea ice, biology, ocean, land and changes in Greenland.
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett