Talking about the Arctic with NOAA Administrator Lubchenco
Featured Article, December 6, 2012
Brian Kahn
It may seem remote from our everyday lives, but the Arctic exerts a powerful influence on the rest of the planet. From rising sea level, to U.S. and European weather, to bird migrations, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco describes how Arctic climate change can influence the rest of the planet.
December 5, 2012 NOAA Climate.gov team
The central Arctic was not as unusually warm in 2012 as it has been in many years this decade, and yet new records were set for sea ice extent, terrestrial snow extent, melting at the surface of the Greenland ice sheet, and permafrost temperature. According to the 2012 Arctic Report Card, these converging indicators “provide strong evidence of the momentum that has developed in the Arctic environmental system due to the impacts of a persistent warming trend that began over 30 years ago.”
Melt pond “skylights” enable massive under-ice bloom in Arctic
December 5, 2012 Rebecca Lindsey
Shallow melt ponds on the surface of consolidated sea ice act as skylights that promote massive under-ice phytoplankton blooms. These under-ice blooms may boost estimates of Arctic phytoplankton productivity by a factor of 10.
Less glitter: Greenland Ice Sheet continued to darken in summer 2012
December 5, 2012 Michon Scott, Rebecca Lindsey
Melt ponds, snow loss, and other warming-induced changes are making the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet far less reflective in the summer than it was even a decade ago. The darker ice surface absorbs more sunlight than it once did, accelerating warming and melting.
Summer 2012 brought record-breaking melt to Greenland
December 5, 2012 Michon Scott - National Snow and Ice Data Center
The summer of 2012 brought Greenland far more extensive melt than anything observed in the satellite record: in July 2012, surface melt extended over nearly the entire ice sheet. The standardized melt index was nearly double the previous record.
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Extreme Events of 2012: Global to Local Responses
The entire Northern Hemisphere was warm during 2012. Drought affected agricultural regions in North America, Europe, eastern Russia, the Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. These warm conditions impacted grain yields, water supplies, and heat-related illness. Global food prices rose by 10 percent during July. Learning how our neighbors around the world cope with and adapt to extreme events can help us make better decisions, become more resilient, and be “climate smart.”
Drought, cold, and massive storms were among the devastating climate-related events that struck the United States in 2012. These events were incredibly destructive and disruptive for people across the country. A better understanding of the relationship between climate and extreme weather is challenging, but it’s important, and it will help our nation become even more “climate smart.”
The Pushy Pacific: Variability and Change in Global Temperature
When the Pacific Ocean warms and cools with El Niño and La Niña, global temperatures rise and fall. Because there was a La Niña event in the early part of this year, the global surface temperature for 2012 won’t break the high temperature record. However, the odds are that this will be the warmest of the La Niña years in the global climate record.
2012—Warmest La Niña Year on Record
Jan 15th, 2013
After running the numbers for 2012, NOAA reported that the global average temperature in 2012 was 1.03° Fahrenheit above average, ranking it as the 10th warmest year since record keeping began in 1880. Although 2012 warmth did not top the charts, it was unusual in another way: it was the warmest “La Niña year” on record.
