11/21/2016

NorthPole36degreeshotterthanitshouldbe|TheDailyStar

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12:01 PM, November 19, 2016 / LAST MODIFIED: 04:01 PM, November 19, 2016

North Pole 36 degrees hotter than it

should be

This handout le photo taken on August 22, 2015 and provided by the European Geosciences Union on September 13, 2016
shows a polar bear testing the strength of thin sea ice in the Arctic. Photo: Mario HOPPMANN / European Geosciences Union
/AFP

Star Online Report

Temperatures near the North Pole are an unheard of 36F (20C) warmer than average right now,
according toScience Alert.
The Arctic is currently in the midst of polar night, where the Sun hardly ever rises. Usually, this isthe
time when things get really cold and vast, thick ice sheets form for the winter.

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But this year, temperatures are much warmer than usual while the weather stations around the North
Pole record the biggest difference, even in parts of Arctic Russia, temperatures are up to 12.6F (7C)
warmer, according to a report in Science Alert.

Photo courtesy: ClimateReanalyzer/Science Alert

And even though sea ice is forming again after reaching its annual low in September, its doing so much
slower than usual.
In fact, so far the amount of ice coverage is even lower than the record-breaking low of 2012, says the
report.

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Photo courtesy: National Snow and Ice Data Centre/ Science Alert

Scientists have taken to Twitter to express their concern over just how bad the situation is getting.

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NorthPole36degreeshotterthanitshouldbe|TheDailyStar

ZackLabe @ZLabe
15Nov
Uncertaintyin#Arcticweatherisalwayshigh...GFSshowing
surfacetemperaturesforecasttohoverjustbelowfreezingatthe
NorthPolepic.twitter.com/BOQy2HjMtF

ZackLabe
@ZLabe

Follow

Today'slatest#Arcticmeantemperaturecontinuestomovethe
wrongdirection...up.Quiteananomalousspike!
pic.twitter.com/C93cQWUKV9
2:24AM16Nov2016Irvine,CA

755

507

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DanielSwain
@Weather_West

Follow

Despiteonsetof#PolarNight,temperaturesnear#NorthPole
increasing.Extraordinarysituationrightnowin#Arctic,w/record
low#seaice.
3:18AM17Nov2016

376

167

"In parts of Arctic Russia, temperatures were 10.8 to 12.6F [6C to 7C] above the long-term average,"
said Petteri Taalas, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
"Many other Arctic and sub-Arctic regions in Russia, Alaska, and northwest Canada were at least 5.4F
[3C] above average," he added.
"We are used to measuring temperature records in fractions of a degree, and so this is different."
This is the second year in a row that temperatures near the North Pole have been unusually high, reports
Science Alert.
At the end of 2015, the Arctic temperature spiked almost to melting point because of a massive storm
pumping warm air into the region.
So whats causing all this unusual variation?
Arctic specialist at Rutgers University, Jennifer Francis, told The Washington Post that its related to
climate change around the rest of the planet the WMO last week declared that 2016 will most likely be
the hottest year on record.
"The Arctic warmth is the result of a combination of record-low sea-ice extent for this time of year,
probably very thin ice, and plenty of warm/moist air from lower latitudes being driven northward by a
very wavy jet stream," Francis told The Washington Post.

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Meteorologist Richard James, who writes a blog on Alaskan weather, has been tracking 19 weather
stations around the Arctic Ocean over the past few months, and has shown that the area has been
flooded with warm air since October, says the report on Science Alert.
"So far the lowest daily high temperature this season is 22F [5.6C], which shows a remarkable absence
of cold," he writes.
"The most similar year in the past was 1998, when the coldest day through mid-November had a high
temperature of 15F [9.5C]."
Its not yet clear how this unprecedented weather pattern will affect local wildlife, such as polar bears,
which descend on the Arctic around this time to hunt on the sea ice.
If its not thick enough to take their weight, it could be disastrous for the population.
It also remains to be seen whether or not this warm Arctic weather will affect the polar vortex that
usually descends over the polar region during winter.
Researchers will continue to monitor the situation closely, so watch this space. And lets all hope that the
Arctic gets some cold days soon, otherwise we could be entering yet another record-breaking era of
climate change, for all the wrong reasons, says the report on Science Alert.

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