Arctic will likely never return to former frigid days, says climate change report
The Arctic will likely never return to its former frigid days because of the effects of climate change, according to the 2017 Arctic Report Card.
The report card is an evolving study started in 2006 and updated annually that looks at the current state of the Arctic's environment. In 2017, it included contributions from 85 researchers in 12 countries.
This year it determined the climate in the Arctic has reached a new, warmer normal, and the effects of climate change on the region are virtually irreversible.
"What we used to call a really warm year in the Arctic or a really warm summer is pretty much normal now," said Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and a contributor to the report card.
"What we have now when it's warm, when we get a really, relatively speaking, warm year, it's something that we didn't used to see ever. We are breaking records."
The report card found some of the biggest changes to the Arctic's environment are thawing permafrost, low volumes of sea ice and snow cover, and warming temperatures. In fact, the Arctic's temperature is increasing at twice the rate of the global temperature.
Arctic will likely never return to former frigid days, says climate change report - North - CBC News
The Arctic will likely never return to its former frigid days because of the effects of climate change, according to the 2017 Arctic Report Card.
The report card is an evolving study started in 2006 and updated annually that looks at the current state of the Arctic's environment. In 2017, it included contributions from 85 researchers in 12 countries.
This year it determined the climate in the Arctic has reached a new, warmer normal, and the effects of climate change on the region are virtually irreversible.
"What we used to call a really warm year in the Arctic or a really warm summer is pretty much normal now," said Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and a contributor to the report card.
"What we have now when it's warm, when we get a really, relatively speaking, warm year, it's something that we didn't used to see ever. We are breaking records."
The report card found some of the biggest changes to the Arctic's environment are thawing permafrost, low volumes of sea ice and snow cover, and warming temperatures. In fact, the Arctic's temperature is increasing at twice the rate of the global temperature.
Arctic will likely never return to former frigid days, says climate change report - North - CBC News
