Arctic hit by high temperatures, melting ice and fires in 2024, NOAA report says
The Arctic experienced its second-hottest year on record, according to a NOAA report. The Arctic tundra has become a source of emissions, rather than a carbon sink.
The Arctic just experienced its second-hottest year on record. And concerningly, the region’s tundra has transitioned from being a sink for carbon to a source of emissions as permafrost thaws, releasing carbon dioxide and methane.
That will only amplify the amount of heat-trapping gases that enter the atmosphere, paving the way for further warming.
The findings, shared Tuesday in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Arctic report card, show how climate change is scrambling ecosystems and shape-shifting the landscape in the part of the planet where global warming is most intense.
Considered a bellwether region for the effects of climate change, the Arctic is heating up far faster than places at lower altitudes — two to four times as quickly, depending on the baselines scientists use for comparison and which geography they include in assessments. The last nine years in the Arctic have all had the highest average temperatures recorded since 1900.
That dynamic is the result of a phenomenon called Arctic amplification. As the Arctic loses snow cover and sea ice, more dark-colored ocean water and rock emerge. Those dark surfaces reflect less radiation back to space, absorbing heat, instead. In addition, patterns of circulation in the oceans and the atmosphere are increasingly transporting heat toward the Earth’s poles.
Rating: 5