In this July 24, 2017 file photo, an iceberg floats past Bylot Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Arctic Report Card, released on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, shows how warming temperatures in the Arctic are transforming the region's geography and ecosystems. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
By Christina Larson
This year's vast wildfires in far northeastern Russia were linked to broader changes in a warming Arctic, according to a report Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Wildfires are a natural part of many boreal ecosystems. But the extent of flames during the 2020 fire season was unprecedented in the 2001-2020 satellite record, and is consistent with the predicted effects of climate change, said Alison York, a University of Alaska Fairbanks fire scientist and a contributor to the annual Arctic Report Card.
The recent wildfires were exacerbated by elevated air temperatures and decreased snow cover on the ground in the Arctic region, the report found.
The past year — from October 2019 to September 2020 — was the second warmest on record in the Arctic, the report said. And the extent of snow on the ground in June across the Eurasian Arctic was the lowest recorded in 54 years.
Under those conditions, trees and plants “are just more flammable,” said York.
“The Arctic isn’t just this collection of components, it’s really an integrated system,” said Dartmouth sea ice scientist Don Perovich, who contributed to the report. "When something happens to one part of the system, it has cascading effects," he said.
Satellites recorded the second lowest extent of sea ice in September since record-keeping began 42 years ago, the report found.
Melting ice is both a result of increased temperatures and an accelerator of further changes, Perovich said. “As sea ice thins, more light can penetrate into the ocean, with unclear impacts for ecosystems,” he said.
As snow and ice cover decreases, the land and ocean surfaces also absorb more heat.
“Changes in the Arctic climate are important because the Arctic acts as a refrigerator for the rest of the world — it helps cool the planet,” said Lawrence Mudryk, a report contributor and a climate scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, a governmental research group.
“How much of the Arctic continues to be covered by snow and sea ice reflects part of how efficiently that refrigerator is working,” he said.
Last year's report included essays and research contributed by the Arctic's Indigenous communities for the first time. But in 2020, close collaboration between visiting scientists and Indigenous communities was not possible because of travel restrictions related to COVID-19.
Report contributor Matthew Druckenmiller, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, said efforts to involve Indigenous communities would resume after the pandemic subsides.
The consequences of a warming Arctic are already felt far beyond the region.
“The Arctic continues to be a warning siren of how our Earth system is changing and it is important for policymakers and the public to understand that the impacts don’t stay in the Arctic with the polar bears,” said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd, who was not involved in the report.
“We feel them, too, through changes in our weather patterns, sea level rise, and fisheries."
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Brightseed Co-Founder Sofia Elizondo breaks down what plant bioactives are, and how they're using the latest technology to study human's biological connections with plants.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Brightseed Co-Founder breaks down what plant bioactives are, and how they're using the latest technology to study human's biological connections with plants; Esper Bionics CEO breaks down how they re creating a mind-controlled bionic hand that guest smarter the more you use it; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Capturing A Black Hole In Our Milky Way.'
Hilary Kearney, Founder of Girl Next Door Honey, joined Closing Bell to discuss her partnership with Comvita to save the important pollinators, as bee colonies are on the decline across the United States.
Hurricane climatologist Jill Trepanier joined Cheddar News to discuss NOAA's announced prediction for an above-normal hurricane season and what it might mean for people in the United States. "I think it's important that people who maybe haven't been used to having extreme weather events related to say tropical cycles and tropical systems, like thinking New Jersey, Northeastern seaboard, that area may get more action than they're used to in the past," she said.
Dr. Jarrad Aguirre, Co-Founder and CEO of Miga Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says his company is looking to establish the future of heart health and points to how 80% of premature heart attacks and strokes are preventable.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, David Keith, Professor of Applied Physics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and founder of Carbon Engineering outlines the viability of solar geoengineering as a solution to help reverse the effects of global warming; Lena Geraghty, Sustainability & Urban Innovation Director at National League of Cities, discusses which U.S. cities are safest from global warming and how the real estate market will be impacted from the effects of climate change; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Changing Ocean Asia.'
David Keith, Professor of Applied Physics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and founder of Carbon Engineering joins Cheddar Reveals to outline the viability of solar geoengineering as a solution to help reverse the effects of global warming.
Lena Geraghty, Sustainability & Urban Innovation Director at National League of Cities, joins Cheddar News to discuss which U.S. cities are safest from global warming and how the real estate market will be impacted from the effects of climate change.
Peggy Whitson, Director of Human Space Flight, Axiom Space, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss Axiom's involvement in the first fully-private mission to the ISS, and her experience spending 665 days in space.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates, Peggy Whitson, Director of Human Space Flight, Axiom Space, breaks down Axiom's involvement in the first fully-private mission to the ISS, and her experience spending 665 days in space; William Li and Danielle Chang, co-founders of The Hao Life, discuss how they're shaking up the $71 billion supplement industry by putting a modern spin on traditional natural Chinese remedies; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Sagrada Familia: Gaudi's Challenge.'
