Current:Home > BackThe Arctic is heating up nearly four times faster than the whole planet, study finds-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
The Arctic is heating up nearly four times faster than the whole planet, study finds
View Date:2024-12-23 18:59:08
The Arctic is heating up nearly four times faster than the Earth as a whole, according to new research. The findings are a reminder that the people, plants and animals in polar regions are experiencing rapid, and disastrous, climate change.
Scientists previously estimated that the Arctic is heating up about twice as fast as the globe overall. The new study finds that is a significant underestimate of recent warming. In the last 43 years, the region has warmed 3.8 times faster than the planet as a whole, the authors find.
The study focuses on the period between 1979, when reliable satellite measurements of global temperatures began, and 2021.
"The Arctic is more sensitive to global warming than previously thought," says Mika Rantanen of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, who is one of the authors of the study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
There have been hints in recent years that the Arctic is heating up even more quickly than computer models predicted. Heat waves in the far North have driven wildfires and jaw-dropping ice melt in the circumpolar region that includes Alaska, Arctic Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and Siberia.
"This will probably be a bit of a surprise, but also kind of extra motivation perhaps," says Richard Davy, a climate scientist at Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Norway, who was not involved in the new study. "Things are moving faster than we could have expected from the model projections."
There are many reasons why the Arctic is heating up more quickly than other parts of the Earth. Changes in the amount of air pollution coming from Europe and natural multi-decade climate variations likely play a role. But human-caused global warming is the underlying reason that the Arctic, and the planet as a whole, are heating up.
Loss of sea ice is one of the clearest drivers of Arctic warming. The Arctic Circle is mostly ocean, which used to be frozen for most or all of the year. But permanent sea ice is steadily shrinking, and seasonal ice is melting earlier in the year and re-forming later.
That means more open water. But while ice is bright and reflects heat from the sun, water is darker and absorbs it. That heat helps melt more ice, which means more water to trap more heat – the loop feeds on itself, accelerating warming in the Arctic.
"That's why the temperature trends are the highest [in] those areas where the sea ice has declined most," explains Rantanen. There are hotspots in the Bering Sea over Northern Europe and Siberia, which are heating up about seven times faster than the global average, the study estimates.
Rapid Arctic warming affects people living far from the Arctic circle. For example, there is evidence that weather patterns are shifting across the U.S. and Europe as sea ice melts, and many marine species migrate between the tropics and the Arctic each year. "What happens in the Arctic doesn't just stay in the Arctic," says Davy.
The new research also finds that the advanced computer models that scientists use to understand how the global climate is changing now, and will change in the future, struggle to capture the relative speed of Arctic warming. That suggests that future models may need to be adjusted to better capture the realities of global warming in polar regions, although this study did not tease apart what exactly is missing from current models.
"The paper's finding that climate models tend to underestimate the warming ratio [between the Arctic and the Earth as a whole] is really interesting," says Kyle Armour, a climate scientist at the University of Washington who was not involved in the new study.
Previous studies have found that computer models actually do a good job estimating how much the Arctic has heated up, but that they tend to overestimate how much hotter the whole planet is, Armour explains. That means the models' comparison between Arctic warming and overall warming ends up being incorrect.
"We have more work to do to figure out the source of this model bias," says Armour. And that work is increasingly important, because world leaders use climate models to understand what the future holds and how to avoid even more catastrophic warming.
veryGood! (8511)
Related
- NFL overreactions: New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys going nowhere after Week 10
- Book excerpt: Devil Makes Three by Ben Fountain
- Reports: Frank Clark to sign with Seattle Seahawks, team that drafted him
- The World Bank approved a $1B loan to help blackout-hit South Africa’s energy sector
- 13 escaped monkeys still on the loose in South Carolina after 30 were recaptured
- U.S. intelligence says catastrophic motor failure of rocket launched by Palestinian militants caused hospital blast
- China and the U.S. appear to restart military talks despite disputes over Taiwan and South China Sea
- Democrats’ divisions on Israel-Hamas war boil over in Michigan as Detroit-area Muslims feel betrayed
- Klay Thompson returns to Golden State in NBA Cup game. How to watch
- Florida’s private passenger train service plans to add stop between South Florida and Orlando
Ranking
- Rafael dissolves into a low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico after hitting Cuba as a hurricane
- Trump isn’t accustomed to restrictions. That’s beginning to test the legal system
- Women and nonbinary Icelanders go on a 24-hour strike to protest the gender pay gap
- Poland’s president calls for new parliament to hold first session Nov. 13
- NFL power rankings Week 11: Steelers, Eagles enjoying stealthy rises
- Halloween alert: Test finds many chocolates contain concerning levels of metals
- Salmonella outbreak in 22 states tied to recalled Gills Onions products
- Is it true or not? Israeli group FakeReporter fact checks while seeking shelter
Recommendation
-
Lululemon, Disney partner for 34-piece collection and campaign: 'A dream collaboration'
-
No, 1 pick Victor Wembanyama is set to debut with the San Antonio Spurs and the world is watching
-
Apple hikes price of Apple TV+, other subscription services
-
Scott Disick Introduces Adorable New Family Member
-
Texas man accused of supporting ISIS charged in federal court
-
The Crown Season 6 Trailer Explores the Harrowing Final Chapters of Princess Diana’s Life
-
Paris museum says it will fix skin tone of Dwayne The Rock Johnson's wax figure
-
Gaza journalists risk everything to report on the Israel-Hamas war raging around them