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Arctic climate continues to concern scientists

12 Dec 2019
Photo of Arctic iceberg
(Courtesy: iStock/Mlenny)

When the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its 14th annual Arctic Report Card on Tuesday, scientists at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco, California weren’t expecting good news. Although 2019 set no climate records, the ongoing warming of the Arctic continues to be a worry, and it is having an increasing and direct impact on the climate at lower latitudes. Speaking at the meeting, NOAA’s acting deputy administrator, Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, called attention to “the speed and trajectory of the changes sweeping the Arctic, many occurring faster than anticipated”.

The Arctic Report Card is an internationally authored and peer-reviewed compilation of 12 chapters. This year, it was written by 81 scientists, many of whom were present as the report was unveiled in a packed conference room. Among its major findings were:

  • The average annual surface air temperature over land north of 60°N between October 2018 and August 2019 was the second warmest since record keeping began, continuing a trend that began around 1980.
  • Average sea surface temperatures in August have been warming since 1982 for most ice-free regions of the Arctic Ocean.
  • The extent of sea ice at the end of summer 2019 was tied for the second lowest level since 1979, when satellite measurements began.
  • Ice older than four years, which constituted one-third of the ice cover in 1985, is now reduced to just 1.2%.
  • Greenland has lost nearly 267 billion tonnes of ice per year since 2002, with near record loss in 2018–2019.
  • Snowmelt began exceptionally early over the Canadian Arctic and Alaska in March 2019.

This year’s report card pays particular attention to the Barents Sea. In addition to the usual data, for the first time, the report includes an essay written by elders of eight indigenous coastal communities, who describe the impact of climate change on their lives and those of the people in some 70 other villages. A resident of one community spoke at a press conference at the AGU meeting, while several elders participated in a NOAA-organized town hall discussion for scientists.

In the report, the elders note that in the northern Bering Sea, sea ice used to be present for eight months a year. Today, residents may only see three or four months with ice. They are used to assessing ice thickness in feet, but now, they say, they are often looking at inches, even in the middle of winter.

The disappearance of the ice has had far-reaching effects. During January and February 2019, at least 15 storms caused unprecedented shoreline flooding to coastal communities. Southerly winds further reduced sea ice extent. The elders also report that interrelated ecosystems are failing. For example, seabird populations, including auklets and murres, are declining, and necropsies of birds found dead revealed empty stomachs, as their food sources disappear. Expanding fisheries are likely to further stress the Bering Sea ecosystem, the elders add.

These ecosystem changes affect the area’s human population, too. The walruses that many indigenous communities hunt for food are now migrating early. During the press conference, a resident of one affected community, Mellisa Johnson, noted drily that when traditional food is scarce, she does not have the option of stocking up at a local supermarket. Some villages have fewer residents, she added, than the number of people attending her press conference.

You can read the full Arctic Report Card and view a short video here.

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