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Winter is coming but the North Pole is warmer than ever

The North Pole is 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2 degrees Celsius) warmer compared to past years according to research from the Climate Reanalyzer. Data shows temperatures in the area are warmer compared to the past decades and the Arctic, part of the northern region of the globe, is almost 13 degrees Fahrenheit warmer today, contributing to the disappearance of its summer ice sea.

Sean Birkel, a research assistant professor at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, have analyzed the Arctic temperatures and posted updates of the differences he has found. He has been comparing recent data to temperatures from the past decades.

Those samples are called ice cores, and they are compared to a sheet that has stored data for thousands of years. Image Credit: Science Poles

Birkle has dedicated his time to writing different articles examining the changes in the North Pole temperatures and the changes in ice territories to raise awareness about global warming. He explains how different phenomena are affecting Earth’s weather and ice seas, although he has mentioned warmer temperatures in the Arctic are mostly due to carbon dioxide (CO2). His work on ClimateReanalyzer.org shows different graphics of the various climate changes that our planet is experiencing.

Professor Birkle compares data from 1979 with data collected in the XXI century

Birkle has been working on forecasting temperature anomalies in the Arctic. He calculates the different temperatures, contrasting data collected from 1979 to 2000, to data collected since 2001 to the present. Then, with the results of the comparative study, Birkle creates maps that show the changes the Arctic and the North Pole in general, are undergoing. Professor Birkle mentioned he uses U.S. weather forecast and reanalysis models to calculate the changes in temperature.

Mr. Birkle said that the abrupt high temperatures are related to a variety of factors that contribute to global warming. When Earth experiences warmer temperatures, the Arctic is more vulnerable to it, which causes a rapid melting of its summer sea ice. Currently, the Arctic is half of its size, and if the Paris Agreement is not reached, that part of the North Pole will disappear by 2050.

Ice reflects the sun’s energy back into space, and when there is no ice, the oceans absorb this energy and start a dangerous cycle that makes Earth warmer and warmer. If ice does not reflect the sun’s light, oceans absorb that heat, which creates water vapor that gets trapped in our planet’s atmosphere. Water vapor also generates more clouds, which also contribute to provoking more heat.

“The loss of the sea ice, the increased melting of the Green Ice Sheet the thawing of permafrost, the changes in the weather patterns, the rising sea level — it’s all consistent with our expectations for the response of the climate system to increases in greenhouse gases,” stated Professor Jennifer Francis from the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Live Science reports.

The Arctic summer sea ice  will completely melt by 2050 if the world fails to reduce global warming 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) 

Greenhouse gasses are disappearing the Arctic summer sea ice and if the UN Climate Conference agreement to reduce Global Warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit is not reached, Earth could lose part of the North Pole.

Observations of climate change in the Arctic revealed that a ton of CO2 provokes the melting of three square meters of Arctic summer sea ice and the only way to stop it is to create awareness on global warming. Bu even if the Paris Agreement gets to limit global warming to 2.7 Fahrenheit, there is no guarantee that the Arctic will still be there due to its fast melting pace, which has taken scientists by surprise.

Even more concerning, not every country in the world has signed the Paris Agreement and Trump’s views on climate change could significantly affect the international effort to fight warmer temperatures on our planet.  

Source: Live Science 

Categories: Science
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