NOAA’s 14th Arctic Report Card recounts the numerous ways that climate change continues to disrupt the polar region, including massive melt of the Greenland ice sheet and major shifts in the distribution of commercially valuable marine species.
Wildfire still burning in Greenland tundra in mid-August 2017
August 18, 2017
Although surface melt did not set a new record in 2016, the Greenland Ice Sheet did continue a long-term trend of decreasing mass, according to the latest Arctic Report Card from NOAA and its partners.
Greenland melt season off to very early start
April 28, 2016
The melt season was up to 30 to 40 days longer than average in western, northwestern, and northeastern Greenland, but was close to or below average elsewhere on the ice sheet. Melt area was above average on 52 of the 90 days of the melt season.
Arctic sea ice extent reached 5.61 million square miles on February 25, and then began to retreat. Unless a late growth spurt takes place, it will be the smallest winter maximum in the satellite record.
After record-breaking melt during the 2012 season, the 2013 melt extent was more on par with the long-term average. The reprieve from the record warmth and melting of the past six summers is likely connected to a strong positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation during summer 2013.
New Record Temperature in Southwest Greenland?
August 26, 2013
A series of unusually strong, long-lasting high pressure systems has parked over Greenland this summer. As many a weather forecaster has explained, high pressure generally leads to calm winds and sunny skies, both of which boost temperatures during the all-day sunshine of mid-summer at high latitudes. The conditions contributed to widespread melting of the ice sheet.
At the highest point atop the Greenland Ice Sheet, Matthew Shupe and his colleagues are installing a suite of climate and weather instruments. Their goal is to better understand the role of clouds in the rapid warming observed across the Arctic region.