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The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, according to new research

2022-08-11T23:50:51.120Z


New research confirms what scientists have been warning for some time: the Arctic has warmed much faster than the rest of the world.


UN records record heat in the Arctic 1:09

(CNN) --

As sea ice disappears, Greenland melts and wildfires scorch forests in the far north of the planet, new research confirms what scientists have long warned: The Arctic has warmed much faster than the rest of the world in recent decades.


The phenomenon, called "Arctic amplification," is caused by heat-trapping emissions from burning fossil fuels.

The rate of temperature rise around the North Pole in recent decades has been four times higher than the rest of the planet, according to a study published Thursday by researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

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Another problem: Climate models, which scientists use to predict long-term changes, don't capture this high rate of warming, lead author and researcher Mika Rantanen told CNN, saying it was part of the motivation for this study. .

This is worrying because if models can't recreate what's happening now, scientists can't trust their long-term predictions.

"Because of this discrepancy, we decided this needs to be corrected," Rantenen said.

"This needs to be updated."

The study, published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, looked at temperature trends in the Arctic Circle between 1979 and 2021, the modern era of satellite data.

They found that the rate of warming is particularly high in the Eurasian Arctic region, especially the Barents Sea, which has been warming seven times faster than the global average.

Recent data revealed that the average annual temperature in the Barents region has risen by up to 2.7 degrees Celsius (4.9 degrees Fahrenheit) every decade over the past 20 to 40 years, making the Barents Sea and its islands the fastest warming planet.

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Climate change has caused a rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic region, which in turn has amplified global warming.

Bright white sea ice reflects solar energy back into space, but when it melts, the dark ocean absorbs that heat.

A retreating glacier in Greenland near Kangerlussuaq in 2021.

A forest fire outside the town of Byas-Kyue in Siberia in 2021.

John Walsh, chief scientist at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said the study's time frame really focused on the Arctic amplification phenomenon, which has been more significant in recent decades than it was in the early days. and mid-twentieth century.

"The Arctic amplification is unmistakable," Walsh, who is not involved in the study, told CNN.

"It's more than a factor of one; it's a factor of several — whether it's two, three or four — and I think that doesn't change the fact that the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world."

Last year's annual Arctic Report Card, which was published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found that the Arctic region is warming faster than the rest of the Earth and rapidly losing ice cover, transforming the typically frozen landscape into a more green and brown one.

than it was just a decade ago.

All of these findings also mirror the latest UN State of the Science report on the climate crisis, which found that the Arctic will continue to warm faster than the rest of the planet as long as humans continue to burn fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases. .

in the atmosphere.

"The Arctic is actually more sensitive to global warming than previously thought," Rantanen said.

"Only time will tell. Let's see how this plays out in the future."

ArcticGlobal warmingthaw

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-08-11

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