The Arctic is Transforming into a Warmer, Less Frozen, and Biologically Changed Region

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, December 7

This annual “Arctic Report Card” by NOAA detailed, among other things that as of this year, Arctic snow cover extent is decreasing at a rate of 3.7% per decade during May, with a much higher rate of loss (15% per decade) for June. Extreme temperatures this past spring and summer in the Eurasian Arctic pushed surface air and sea temperatures over 1°C warmer than the 1981-2010 average. Sea ice extent in the Arctic nearly fell to its lowest winter maximum and late summer minimum of the decade. Glaciers and ice sheets continue a trend of significant ice loss, dominated largely by ice loss from Alaska and Arctic Canada. This past year the Greenland Ice Sheet experienced higher ice loss than the 1981-2010 average but lower than the record 2018/19 loss. Consequences of such profound changes are not only detrimental to Arctic ecosystems and populations, but the rest of the planet, its communities, and economies as a whole.

https://arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card/Report-Card-2020/ArtMID/7975/ArticleID/899/Executive-Summary

Compiled by Amy Imdieke.