The temperature in the Arctic has increased almost four times faster than the global average over the past 40 years, according to a new study. On average, the warmed up Arctic by 0.75 degrees per decade, according to the study by scientists from Norway and Finland, published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. Previous climate models assumed a much slower rise in temperature.
Results worse than feared
For example, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2019 stated that warming is progressing around twice as fast as the global average. This is due to a phenomenon known as “Arctic amplification”. When ice and snow, which normally reflect sunlight, melt into seawater, there is an amplifying effect as the dark water absorbs the sunlight’s heat.
The scientists from Norway and Finland are now examining four temperature datasets that have been transmitted by satellite in the region since 1979 Arctic were collected. They found that climate change is progressing faster than previously thought. The results were “somewhat surprising” because they were so much higher than previous data, said co-author Antti Lipponen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute. He spoke out in favor of putting the climate models to the test.
disastrous consequences
The strong warming of the Arctic has devastating global consequences. In particular, scientists warn of a melting of the Greenland ice sheet, which could result in sea levels rising by around six meters. In addition, the melting ice is accelerating climate change and exacerbating extreme weather events such as storms. “Climate change is man-made,” said Lipponen. “Something’s happening in the Arcticand that will affect us all.”
Source: Nachrichten
