Global Warming

Alaskan Outpost Heats Up Under Global Warming

The United States’ northernmost settlement of Barrow, Alaska, has warmed a remarkable 12.96 degrees Fahrenheit during October over the past 33 years because of shrinking summertime sea ice.

Researcher Gerd Wendler of the University of Alaska’s International Arctic Research Center says he is “astonished” by his finding, published in the Open Atmospheric Science Journal.

“I think I have never, anywhere, seen such a large increase in temperature over such a short period,” he told the Alaska Dispatch News.

Climate records show Barrow’s average annual temperature has risen by almost 5 degrees since 1979.

But the warming was far more pronounced during October, when the loss of sea ice in the adjacent Beaufort and Chukchi seas was at the highest.

Wendler and colleagues say that some of the warming can be attributed to north winds picking up stored heat from water that is no longer ice-covered during autumn, then releasing it into the atmosphere.

While the Arctic has seen the greatest amount of warming under recent climate change, the scientists caution that Barrow’s long-term temperature rise has not been uniform.