What global warming? Alaska is headed for an ice age as scientists report state's steady temperature

[NickB79]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256188/What-global-warming-Alaska-headed-ice-age-scientists-report-states-steady-temperature-decline.html

New research from the Alaska Climate Research Center shows that since the beginning of the 21st century, temperatures in the snow covered land of Alaska are actually getting colder - bucking the overall global warming trend.

In the Last Frontier, where temperatures can get as cold as 50 degrees below zero, local residents have experienced the increasing chill and scientists now confirm that the Northwest state is indeed seeing a temperature drop.

A new report from the research center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks reveals that the 49th state of the union has cooled by 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 2000

Get ready. The GW deniers are already gearing up to use this.

[Tempest]

1. Tell that to the residents of Fairbanks

The permafrost is melting under them and houses are falling into sinkholes. One was a few houses away from my sister's place.

"In the Last Frontier, where temperatures can get as cold as 50 degrees below zero,"

When I lived there in the 1970s, temperatures got as cold as 70 degrees below zero regularly in the interior. How is that getting colder?

[Canuckistanian]

2. And Great Britain is expected to get cooler because of Global Climate change

Because of the slowing of the Gulf Stream. I can imagine the possibility of something similar happening in Alaska right now.

Not every consequence of Climate Change is going to result in warmer temperatures for everyone, at least in the next 15 years or so.

But rest assured, every part of the globe is going to see changes. And soon.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Due to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, a known phenomenon

The paper:

Abstract: During the first decade of the 21st century most of Alaska experienced a cooling shift, modifying the long-term
warming trend, which has been about twice the global change up to this time. All of Alaska cooled with the exception of
Northern Regions. This trend was caused by a change in sign of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), which became
dominantly negative, weakening the Aleutian Low. This weakening results in less relatively warm air being advected
from the Northern Pacific. This transport is especially important in winter when the solar radiation is weak. It is during
this period that the strongest cooling was observed. In addition, the cooling was especially pronounced in Western Alaska,
closest to the area of the center of the Aleutian Low. The changes seen in the reanalyzed data were confirmed from
surface observations, both in the decrease of the North-South atmospheric pressure gradient, as well as the decrease in the
mean wind speeds for stations located in the Bering Sea area.
...
In summary, the long term observed warming of Alaska
of about twice the global value, as expected by the increasing
CO2 and other trace gases, is sometimes temporarily
modified or even reversed by natural decadal variations. This
is not the first observed occurrence that can be found in the
historical record of Alaska [14], as the 1920’s were warm,
and starting in the mid-1940’s a cold period occurred lasting
some 3 decades, after which it become warm again.

http://www.benthamscience.com/open/toascj/articles/V006/111TOASCJ.pdf

[NickB79]

4. Bingo!

Thanks for posting that, very informative.

[hatrack]

5. About the level of accuracy (sic) I'd expect from the Daily Mail

.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. Here's the story from the Anchorage Daily News

http://www.adn.com/2013/01/05/2743379/study-shows-alaska-got-colder.html

Doing our part to lower the global temperature.

The overwhelming majority of Alaska is getting colder and has been since 2000, according to a study by researchers with the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. But the authors stop short of saying the lower temperatures contradict that idea that the earth, and Alaska in particular, is warming. Instead, they conclude that the findings show a temporary variation.

The scientists with the Geophysical Institute's Alaska Climate Research Center looked at temperatures recorded at 20 "first-order meteorological stations" in Alaska from 2000 to 2010. The stations were spread from Annette in Southeast to Barrow on the Arctic Ocean to Cold Bay at the southwest tip of the Alaska Peninsula. All are operated by professional meteorologists with the National Weather Service, use similar or identical equipment and follow uniform operating procedures.

Every station pointed to a cooling trend, except Barrow.

The mean cooling for the average of all 20 stations was 2.34 degrees Fahrenheit. The chilling trend was most pronounced in the Bering Sea region, with King Salmon recording a drop of 4.42 degrees in the first decade of the new century.

<snip>

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/01/05/2743379/study-shows-alaska-got-colder.html#storylink=cpy