Jason Box Re. Arctic Records: "The Holocene Climate System Is Unraveling"; Prepare For Step Changes
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This winter’s warm weather oddity is what NASA sea ice researcher Alek Petty called a “pincher attack.” In previous winters, the heat has largely entered the Arctic through the North Atlantic between Greenland and Europe. This winter, heat is pouring in there but also rushing through the Bering Strait from the North Pacific. The double dose of heat is what’s creating wild records across the region, and winter temperatures have never been higher in recorded history.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska (formerly Barrow), a place that’s warmed so fast, scientists thought its weather station was broken, topped out at 31 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday. Temperatures also swirled above freezing at the world’s northernmost land weather station.
Ice has disappeared from the Bering Sea when it would normally be growing. The Chukchi Sea to the north has even see ice dip, an occurrence that’s only ever happened one other winter in recorded history. The North Pole could see temperatures above freezing this weekend. Petty has conducted research into whether this type of supercharged heat has hit the Arctic in winters past. He found that while these types of events have occurred before, their character has changed dramatically to resemble a heat wave on steroids.
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If we pass a tipping point, it will require quick thinking to adapt basically everything people rely on. Even if we’re not there yet, we need to be ready when it arrives. “The Holocene climate system is unraveling,” Jason Box, an ice researcher at the Danish Meteorological Institute, told Earther in an email. “We should not be surprised if/when ongoing de-glaciation of the Arctic combined with global (and Arctic) atmospheric heating and humidification causes climate shifts that appear to be step changes.”
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https://earther.com/has-the-arctic-finally-reached-a-tipping-point-1823276247
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