New data shows extraordinary rates of global heating in the Arctic, up to seven times faster than the global average.
The heating is occurring in the North Barents Sea, a region where fast rising temperatures are suspected to trigger an increase in extreme weather in North America, Europe and Asia. The researchers said the heating in the area was an “early warning” of what could happen across the rest of the Arctic.
The new numbers show annual average temperatures in the area are rising across the year by up to 2.6C a decade, with particularly high rises in the months of autumn of up to 4C a decade. This makes the North Barents Sea the fastest warming place on Earth.
Some scientists say the unprecedented events could signal faster and more abrupt climate breakdown.
It was already understood that the climate crisis was driving heating across the Arctic three times faster than the global average, but the new research shows the situation is even worse in places.
Sea ice is good at reflecting ice but is melting. This allows the darker ocean to absorb more energy. Lost sea ice also means it no longer restricts the ability of warmer sea waters to heat up the Arctic air. This forms a feedback loop.
“We expected to see strong warming, but not on the scale we found,” said Ketil Idaksen, who led the study.
“The broader message is that the feedback of melting sea ice is even higher than previously shown,” he said. “This is an early warning for what’s happening in the rest of the Arctic if this melting continues, and what is most likely to happen in the next decades.”