Experts Say There's a New Normal in the Arctic

Experts warned that a new normal is settling over the Arctic. Global warming is accelerating the melting of snowcaps and the rapid evolution of the Arctic's delicate ecosystems. The region is no longer the way it used to be from decades ago.

That conclusion is from this year's annual update on the climate of the Arctic region from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Arctic Report Card. The report was released on Tuesday, December 8, with a virtual press conference that is hosted at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting, according to Scientific American.

NOAA's annual Arctic Report Card describes the Arctic region now as "warmer, less frozen, and biologically changed in ways that are scarcely imaginable even a generation ago.

Arctic Region's New Normal

One of the editors of the report and a scientist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Rick Thoman said that the Annual report card "provides a snapshot in time of a region in the middle of transition."

It seems that the Arctic region is changing, from its ice and snow to human activity in which no one would think that in 30 years, everything will still be the same as it is today.

This year is the second hottest year on record in the Arctic as its temperature continues to rise at least twice as fast as the global average, according to Greenwire.

Moreover, the Arctic ocean is also warming while wildfires continue to rage across the tundra every summer. Besides, the Greenland ice sheet is also melting at a faster pace and the Arctic sea ice continues to decrease every year.

The report gives a comprehensive view of how the Arctic climate is shifting which is one of the biggest highlights this year. The Arctic sea ice hits its lowest level in September which marks the end of the melting season. But its minimum level is the second ever recorded just behind the 2012 minimum level.

Climate Change Effects This Year

One of the most memorable effects of climate change on the Arctic in 2020 is the declining level of sea ice on the coast of Siberia, in which the summer and fall are unusually warm as the annual summer melt has begun earlier. Also, the Laptev Sea in Russia has recorded record-breaking low levels of sea ice during that period.

Furthermore, the freeze-up has also begun at a later time this year compared to the previous years. It was only in late October when the ice started forming again in the Laptev Sea. The temperature rise also caused the Laptev Sea to climb even higher which drives more melting in the process.

According to researchers, the extent of sea ice loss and the increasing temperature has formed a vicious cycle this 2020. With lesser sea ice, the warmer the planet becomes because only a few are left to reflect sunlight away from the planet.

Wildfires were also happening in the Arctic Circle thanks to a spate of blazes across Siberia, particularly in the Sakha Republic and the long-term fire season in Alaska.

Climate change also has great impacts on the animal and plant life in the Arctic Ocean which affect the food chain from the bottom to up. As the temperature rises, the Arctic also is slowly transitioning into a new normal that is different from decades ago.