Global Warming

Arctic - Frontline of Climate Change

The Arctic is warming nearly four times as fast as global averages, with some locations, such as Svalbard, warming up to seven times faster.

The Arctic Ocean is mostly covered with a layer of sea ice. But as the planet warms, this is declining with about half of the sea-ice area lost since 1981 and predictions of a mostly ice-free Arctic summer by 2050. With less sea ice in summer, more of the ocean’s surface is exposed, turning a reflective, white surface dark and trapping the sun’s heat.

The Arctic is covered with snow for much of the year, but each summer the snowy landscapes turn green for a few short weeks. This is when plants and animals kick into gear to carry out their life cycles. As temperatures increase, tundra ecosystems are in sharp transition. Plants are ‘greening up’ earlier and there has been a marked increase in certain species such as shrubs, the trees of the tundra.

With accelerating warming, the permafrost is starting to thaw and carbon is being released as CO2 or methane, a more potent greenhouse gas. If all of it were released, it would more than double the carbon in the atmosphere.