The Arctic is warming three times faster than the global average
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
A new scientific study indicates that climate warming in the Arctic has proved faster than previously estimated.
The Arctic is warming three times faster than the global average
A new scientific study indicates that climate warming in the Arctic has proved faster than previously estimated.
The Arctic is warming faster than previously thought. While earlier estimates had already highlighted how global warming affects the North Pole more markedly than the planetary average, a new study indicates that the rate is in fact three times higher than the global average.
The report drawn up by the Arctic monitoring and assessment programme
The document was drawn up by the Arctic monitoring and assessment programme (Amap), and was made public on Thursday 20 May in Reykjavik, at a meeting of the Arctic Council, the body made up of the nations whose territories border the region. According to scientists, the data are particularly alarming, not least in light of the consequences that the melting of the ice cap will have in terms of rising sea levels.
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vimeo.com/552453853/80a3…
vimeo.com/552453853/80a3…
Consider that, as set out in the Special Report 1.5 of the United Nations Environment Programme, if the global average temperature at the end of the century is 1.5 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels, the prospect of a summer with an ice-free Arctic Ocean (entirely melted due to the heat) is calculated as highly unlikely, though not impossible: once every century. At 2 degrees, however, the phenomenon would occur every decade.
Temperatures in the Arctic have already risen by 3.1 degrees centigrade
The Amap study explains that, in less than half a century — between 1971 and 2019 — the average temperature in the polar region rose by 3.1 degrees centigrade. Across the rest of the planet, the increase was one degree. Simply staggering figures. And ones that in 2004 underwent a negative "turning point", with a sudden surge in the data that scientists are not yet able to explain.
According to Jason Box, glaciologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, the Arctic "is experiencing an ever-increasing number of prolonged winter heatwaves". Particularly during the ice-formation period, between October and May. In summer, the heat released by the oceans adds to this. This is already bringing about profound changes to natural habitats, feeding habits and the migration of living species.